The second hero
by ebjowik1
Summary: This is my story about a duelist using a deck full of heroes just like Jaden Yuki. I've been reading a couple of stories like that and decided to write my own version. I don't own YU-GI-OH GX, just the OC.
1. Chapter 1

**The second hero has arrived!**

"So this is duel academy." Said a 15 years old boy staring at the giant building known as the Duel Academy.

He had dark blue hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a black shirt with a grey hoodie over it, a pair of blue jeans and blue sneakers.  
His name was Andrew Wilson and he was transferred to this school as a student. He was glad that he was able to transfer to this school. He expected the exams to be difficult, but he managed to score pretty high on the written part. The dueling part wasn't so bad either. Being transported to the academy by a helicopter, Andrew was awestruck by the sight of the academy island from so far up. After staring at the school building a couple of minutes Andrew went inside hoping to find the Chancellor's office so he could sign up as a student.

"This place is huge, I better ask someone for help." He said as he was having hard time to find the office. He noticed a brown haired woman with two earrings dressed in a pink dress with a white blue jacket over it and brown heeled boots. Andrew approached her and asked " Excuse me, I'm a transfer student and I'm having a hard time finding the Chancellor's office, can you help me?"

She stared at him for a few seconds and then nodded. "Ah yes. You were supposed to arrive this week. I'm Miss Fonda Fontaine! Follow me ." She said with a cheerful voice as she walked towards the direction of the office, with Andrew following her lead.

Two minutes later, they made it to the office. It was very big and most of the room was vacated, consisting only a chair, a desk and a flower pot. The person sitting on the chair turned out to be a bald man with a beard. He was wearing a red coat and a tie. He was doing some paperwork until he noticed Fontaine and Andrew entering.

"Oh, Miss Fontaine. What brings you here?"

Holding up her right hand towards Andrew, Fontaine presented out loud, "Well Chancellor Sheppard, this young man is the new transfer student who was supposed to meet you. He got lost so I helped him to find your office."

Andrew walked towards the desk and bowed his head politely. "My name is Andrew Wilson. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The Chancellor smiled and nodded. "Yes, it's nice to meet you too. Welcome to Duel Academy! Study hard to become the next King of games!"

"Thank you, Chancellor."

Sheppard turned his gaze towards Fontaine. "Miss Fontaine? Why don't you help Andrew fit in?"

The female adult nodded before placing a hand on Andrew's shoulder. "Come on, Andrew! let's get you suited up for your dorm!"

As the two of them left, Sheppard couldn't help but allow a smile to form across his face. Somehow, he had a feeling that this boy would make the future brighter.

* * *

Andrew waited outside a room where Miss Fontaine would get some things he needed for his time here in Duel academy. After a couple of minutes, she came out of the room while holding a box with the DA logo on the front and a red jacket on the top.

"Well, here you have it." Miss Fontaine said cheerfully. "Your DA supplies, including your slifer red uniform."

After she handed him the box and uniform, Andrew stared at said uniform. "Slifer red huh."

She nodded. "Yup that's right. You see, there are three different student dorms here: Obelisk blue, Ra yellow, and Slifer red.  
Obelisk blue is the highest ranked dorm; some students are in blue because of their grades, others due to personal connections.  
Ra yellow is second highest; those students have lots of potential.  
And finally, Slifer red; the dorm meant for the students with the lowest ranks. And speaking of the slifer red, the academy rules states that transfer students have to start there."

"I see." Andrew said with an understanding look, before he gave a confident smile. "I guess I need to work my way up then."

Miss Fontaine smiled at his confidence. "Well, I'm sure you're going to do great here. Now if you excuse me, I have to head back to my class. You can look around campus for a bit. If you have some questions, don't hesitate to ask a teacher."

"Thank you." He said, as he watched her walk away. Andrew decided to take a look inside the box he was given. The first thing he noticed inside the box was his PDA, a device that a student could use to send messages to other students. Andrew placed the device inside one of his pockets, before he made his way to a nearby locker room so he could change. Once he was done, Andrew looked at himself wearing the slifer uniform. 'Not bad' He thought before leaving the locker room. As soon as he came out, he bumped into someone.

"Oops. Sorry." He apologized, before he got a good look at the person standing in front of him. It was a man with long black hair, wearing glasses and a white shirt. Andrew also noticed that the man was holding a fat cat with brown fur in his arms.

"Don't worry, that's alright." The man said before giving Andrew a curious look( **Even though his eyes seemed to be closed** ). "And who might you be young man?"

"I'm Andrew Wilson, a transfer student."

The man gave him a friendly smile. "A yes, I've heard that you would come to this school. Well Andrew, I am professor Lyman Banner. As a teacher, I specialize in some of lesser known tactics and strategies in the world of duel monsters. And I'm also the slifer red dorm's headmaster. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. I was wondering, can you help me find the slifer red dorm?"

Banner nodded. "Yes of course. I have nothing else to do anyway. Just follow me." He said as he escorted Andrew towards the intended location. After leaving the main building, they walked for some time before reaching their destination. Andrew sweat dropped at the site of what he assumed was the slifer dorm. It was a small building looking over the ocean. It was yellow color with a bright red roof. The front of the building had two stories with four doors each, with external stairs and walkways.

'Is this a dorm, or an outhouse?' Andrew thought.

Banner then took him to one of the dorm rooms. The room was moderately sized. There was a triple bunk bed in one end, a sink and cupboard in another and a few desks against the wall opposite the bed.

"Well here's your room. Although, three students are already living here so I'm going to inform them that you're going to share this room with them, if you don't mind."

Andrew shrugged. "As long as I have somewhere to sleep, I don't mind that much."

"Glad to hear it. I'll make sure that someone brings you another mattress for the room. So, you think you'll be fine from now on?"

"Yes."

"Good. Then I'll shall take my leave. Have a good day." With that said, banner left the dorm.

* * *

After having settling down into the room, Andrew decided to look around the campus. He found many different places on the island, like docks, a beach and even a building that was like how a library looked like from the outside. And judging from the building's yellow color, Andrew assumed that it was the Ra yellow dorm. Later on, Andrew decided to explore the school building so he wouldn't get lost again.

As he wandered through the hallway, Andrew heard noises coming from an entrance leading to a duel arena. Andrew walked inside and was amazed by the size of the arena and all stands around it. He then noticed the source of the noises he heard earlier. On the platform in the middle of the arena, there were two students dueling each other. One of them was a boy from the slifer red dorm and the one he was up against was a boy from the obelisk blue dorm.

"Whoa!" Andrew gasped when he saw something behind the obelisk student. It was a giant black and silver dragon, with spikes on its tail and over its body.

 **ATK: 2800 DEF: 1000 LV: 7**

Andrew turned his head towards the slifer student and noticed that there was nothing on his side on the field. "Looks like that guy is in big trouble."

 **Obelisk student: 2400**

 **Slifer student: 1300**

The slifer student stared at the dragon nervously while he has nothing to protect himself with.

"Now my dragon, attack him directly!" After hearing the obelisk boy's command the dragon roared and clawed the slifer student causing him to fall down.

 **Obelisk student: 2400**

 **Slifer student: 1300-0000**

With the attack finished, the holograms disappeared. The slifer student groaned as he was trying to get up. The obelisk student approached him and held out his hand, offering to help him up. "Not bad pal." He said with a grin. The slifer student took his hand accepting his help. "Thanks, but damn you're good."

"Don't feel bad, you did quite well. Just keep practicing and you'll become even better before you know it."

"Sure. Thanks for dueling me." Said the slifer student before leaving the arena.

The obelisk student noticed Andrew standing near the platform.

"Hello there. I didn't notice you there earlier." He said as he approached Andrew. When the guy was close enough, Andrew was able have a better look at him. He was a few centimeters taller than him. His hair was dark purple and slightly spiky. And he had gray eyes.

"Well, I just came here." Said Andrew. "I was looking around campus when I heard noises coming from here. I didn't expect to find someone dueling here."

"Yeah. That guy needed some help to improve his dueling skills, so he asked me to have a practice duel with him. So, you come here often?"

"Actually, this is the first time I come to this arena. You see, I'm a transfer student and I just transferred in."

"A transfer student huh. Well it's nice to meet you, my name is Michael Kageyama, a first year student from Obelisk blue." Said the obelisk student named Michael, as he offered Andrew a handshake.

"Andrew Wilson." He said as he accepted the handshake.

"So what are you doing around here?"

"Like I said, I was just looking around campus. I don't really have anything else to do since I just came here."

"In that case, how about you duel me?"

"A duel?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah, I'm curious about your dueling skills. So, what do say?"

Andrew thought about it for a moment before nodding to him. "Sure, why not."

"Great." Michael said with a grin.

* * *

 _Ten minutes earlier somewhere else_

An amount of students have just finished their classes, including three certain slifer students. One of them was a boy with brown eyes and brown hair. His name was Jaden Yuki. The second person was a boy who was shorter than the other two. He had blue hair and was wearing glasses. His name was Syrus Truesdale. The third person was a big broad boy with a big nose and black hair with a certain style that made him look like a koala. His name was Chumley Huffington.

"Did either of you get anything of what the teacher said? That guy's voice was so boring that I fell asleep five minutes in. " Jaden asked.

"Not me." Syrus answered. "I stayed up the whole time, but I can hardly remember anything he said."

"Yeah, same here." Chumley said.

"Hello boys." A voice spoke up. When Jaden and the others turned towards that voice, they saw professor Banner approaching them.

"Oh, professor Banner. What's up?"

"Well, I was actually looking for you three."

"Why. Do you need Syrus to become Pharaoh's scratch post again? Asked Jaden, causing Banner to chuckle at his joke.

"No, I just wanted to tell you about a transfer student who came to this school earlier today."

"A new student? Sweet. What's this new student like?" Jaden asked.

"Well…" Banner began, as he told them about his encounter with the new student. Once he was done...

"Oh, so he's gonna move into our room. Wicked."

"I don't know Jaden. Said Syrus. "We hardly have much space in our room."

"Oh, I'm sure it will be fine." Banner assured. "Andrew even said that he didn't mind so much. Well, I think I head back home. See you later." With that said, banner left the Slifer trio.

"So, do you guys think this Andrew guy is a good duelist?" Chumley asked.

"Well, I sure hope he is. I can hardly wait to duel him." Jaden said with an eager smile.

Suddenly, they noticed other students headed towards the main arena.

"Come on. The duel's gonna start."

"There's no way I'm gonna miss this."

Hearing the students mention this 'duel' interested Jaden.

"A duel? Come on guys, let's check it out!"

"Hey, wait up!" Syrus cried out as he and Chumley ran after Jaden.

"Aw, not running."

* * *

When they arrived into the arena, there were a decent number of students who had gathered to watch the duel. When they turned towards the platform they saw a slifer student facing an obelisk student. Right now the both of them were shuffling each others decks, which means they were about to start the duel.

"Sweet, we made it just in time." Jaden said.

"Yeah, but I wonder who is dueling. I don't recognize any of those two." Syrus wondered

"Me neither." Chumley said.

"Well I recognize at least one them." A voice spoke up. The slifer trio turned to see a boy with dark gray hair and matching gray eyes. This person was wearing a yellow jacket. In other words, a Ra student.

"Hey Bastion, what brings you here?" Jaden greeted

"The same as you I suppose. Now as for the two duelists over there, I recognize the one in blue. Michael Kageyama, a first year student from Obelisk blue. I saw his duel during the entrance exam and he simply defeated his duel proctor after two turns."

Jaden and his friends were surprised after hearing Bastion's explanation.

"Wow. Two turns, sounds like he has wicked skills." Jaden said amazed.

"Indeed. That slifer student on the other hand is no one I know."

Jaden stared at said student for a moment before a thought crossed his mind.

"Then maybe he is that transfer student we heard about."

"Transfer student?"

"Yeah, we met professor Banner earlier and he told us that a new student came to our school."

Bastion nodded before turning towards the duelists. "I see. Well, whoever he is, let's see how he stand up against Michael."

* * *

After shuffling each others decks and gave them to each other, Andrew and Michael went to their respective sides of the platform. Andrew inserted his deck into his duel disk and took a deep breath.

'Alright, here goes. I can do this.' Andrew thought

"Well Andrew? Are you ready?" Michael asked.

"You bet I am." Andrew answered.

"Let's duel." They both said in unison after activating their duel disks

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Michael: 4000**

"How about you take the first turn?" Andrew offered

"Don't mind if I do." Michael drew a sixth card. "I'll start by summoning Mystic tomato in defense mode." A giant tomato with a creepy face appeared on the field. (ATK: 1400 **DEF: 1100** LV:4) "Then I'll place three cards face-down and end my turn."

"Alright, I draw." Andrew looked at the card he drew and then nodded when saw what he got. "First I play the spell card Polymerization. And with it I fuse Elemental HERO Avian and Elemental HERO Burstinatrix to form Elemental HERO Nova master." Two monsters were sucked into a fusion vortex, a man wearing a green suit with feather wings and a woman wearing a red body suit. After they merged together, there were flames bursting out from the fusion vortex. The flames were then absorbed by a monster hiding within them: A warrior wearing a red and orange armor with a red cape. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2100 LV: 8)

Jaden and his friends were surprised by seeing this, especially Jaden.

"Wow, I've never seen that HERO before. Who would have thought that someone else uses a hero deck like me?" Jaden said with amazement in his voice.

"Yeah, but it's strange that he fused Avian and Burstinatrix to form that guy. I mean, aren't they supposed to form Flame wingman?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah, you're right. That is strange." Chumley said.

"Not Really." Bastion pointed out, getting their attention. "The Elemental Heroes are known for their fusions. Whenever you fuse them, you have a choice of what high level monster they combine to create. And each monster has different powers."

"Oh, so when Jaden fuses those two Heroes, he can decide to form Flame wingman or Nova master." Syrus said as he summarized Bastions explanation.

"Wait I can? Wow, who knew?" Jaden asked dumbly, causing his friends to fall with anime style.

"Really Jaden?" Syrus asked with a sweat drop at his head. "You have a deck full of heroes and you never knew that?"

"Nope, not really. But still, this is so sweet. Now I really want to duel this guy."

As Andrew's monster landed on the field, Michael whistled as a sign of being impressed. "So, you start with a big gun huh?"

"Yes and since this was a special summon, I can still normal summon another monster. And I choose Elemental HERO Stratos." From the card he played , a warrior clad in blue and silver armor with turbine wings appeared alongside Nova master. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 300 LV: 4)

"This monster has two abilities and I can activate one them when he is summoned. I choose his first ability, for every other Hero I control, Stratos can destroy one spell or trap card on the field and I choose the middle one." At Andrew's command the propellers on the hero's turbine wings began to rotate, until they rotated so fast that they created whirlwinds, blowing away one of Michael's face down cards.

"And with that done, it's time for battle. Stratos, attack Mystic tomato." Andrew's hero flew towards the giant tomato and punched it in the face, causing it to shatter into pixels.

"Not bad, but not good enough to break through my defense. When my Mystic tomato is destroyed in battle, I'm allowed to special summon a dark attribute monster with up to 1500 atk points from my deck. The only catch is I have to summon it in attack mode. I choose another Mystic tomato." A replica of the first tomato appeared in its place. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 1100 LV: 4)

"Then I'll destroy that tomato as well. Nova master, attack with Burning Sphere Bomb!" The red and orange armored hero held up his palms towards each other and then a sphere of fire started to form between them. It grew in size until it was bigger than Mystic tomato itself and once the fire reached that size, the hero threw it at the tomato. The moment the fire sphere made contact with the monster, it exploded, blowing the tomato. Michael winced when most of the explosion reached him.

 **Michael: 4000-2800**

"Well, since my other tomato was destroyed, I can bring out another monster. But this time I summon Plague wolf." The monster that appeared on the field this time was a zombie-like wolf. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1000 LV: 3)

"Nova Master has a special ability also, every time he destroys a monster in battle, I get to draw a card from my deck." After his explanation, Andrew drew a card and inserted two of them into his duel disk. "I place two cards face down and end my turn."

"My turn then." As soon as Michael laid his eyes on the card he drew, he smirked. " Alright, I hope you're ready. Cuz I'm about to unleash a dangerous combo."

"A dangerous combo?"

"That's right, but first things first. I activate the spell card Fiend's Sanctuary. This allows me to summon a Metal Fiend Token to the field." A small gray featureless creature appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 0000** DEF: 0000 LV: 1) " Next I activate my Plague wolf's special ability, I can double its original attack points until the end of my turn." His monster lifted its head and howled. ( **ATK: 1000-2000** )

' _His wolf might be strong enough to take down my Stratos, but not my Nova master. So what could his plan be?'_ Andrew thought before he suddenly realized something. "Could it be…?" He then widened his eyes. "Your two face down cards."

"Sounds like you figured it out. That's right, in order to use my combo, I need two certain monsters and two special trap cards. And here is the first one." With that said, Michael revealed one of his face down cards. "I activate the trap card Crush Card Virus. First I have to sacrifice a dark attribute monster with 1000 attack points or less, like my token. And then, my trap card destroys all monsters on your side of the field, in your hand and that you draw in the next 3 turns, but only if they have 1500 or more attack points." His token was absorbed by the trap card and then it unleashed poison gas which caused Andrew's monsters to tremble until they shattered into pixels.

"And with that done, I activate my other trap. Deck Devastation Virus. In order to activate this card, I have to sacrifice a dark monster with 2000 or more attack points, like my Plague Wolf." The wolf monster howled before disappearing. "After that, my trap card destroys your monsters the same way as Crush Card Virus. However, this trap card can only destroy monsters with 1500 or less attack points." After hearing the explanation, Andrew was forced to discard the only card in his hand.

"This is definitely not lishus." Chumley said.

"You said it Chumley. One virus was bad enough, but two? That's just overkill." Jaden said.

"Indeed. Now any monster card he draw from his deck will be automatically destroyed." Bastion commented

"Well, no monsters left for you then."

"I'm not so sure about that." Andrew said as his graveyard slot started to glow. And then something appeared in front of him; a transparent version of a woman with long black hair, clad in a black armor.

"Huh? What's that?" Michael wondered.

"This is the card your virus forced me to discard, Elemental HERO Shadow Mist. When she is sent to the graveyard, I can activate her special ability, which allows me to add a HERO monster from my deck to my hand." Andrew explained looked through his deck. " The one I choose is Elemental HERO Bubbleman." He showed the to Michael before adding it his hand.

"I see. Well, my turn is not over yet. Since I have exactly 3 dark monsters in my graveyard, I can special summon Dark Armed Dragon." The giant monster that appeared on the field was a dragon that looked awfully familiar. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 1000 LV:7)

' _That's the dragon from the last duel._ ' Andrew thought with a surprised look.

"If you think you can stop me with your face down cards, think again. I activate my dragon's special ability, by removing a dark monster in my graveyard from play, he can destroy one card on the field. I remove one of my Mystic tomatoes to destroy the face down card on my left." After Michael's card ejected from his duel disk, the dragon aimed it's tail at Andrew's face down card and shot a spike from it.

"In that case, I activate my face down card before it gets destroyed. It's called Waboku and thanks to this trap all battle damage I take this turn becomes zero." He explained as his card created a barrier before it was hit by the spike.

"No battle damage huh. Oh well, I can at least let my dragon destroy your other face down." Michael said as he activated his monster's ability again.

"Then I better activate that card as well. Reveal Call of the Haunted. With this I can summon a monster from my grave and I choose Stratos." The warrior with the turbine wings returned from the grave. "And since he was summoned, I can activate one his abilities again. This time, I choose his second ability; I can add another HERO monster from my deck to my hand. And I choose Elemental HERO Sparkman." Andrew said as he revealed the card he took from his deck.

"Not bad, but that won't stop my dragon from destroying your trap card." The spike shattered the card to pixels, destroying Andrew's monster in the process.

"Wait, what happened to Stratos?" Syrus wondered.

"When Call of the Haunted leaves the field, the monster summoned by it is automatically destroyed." Bastion explained.

"At least that guy got two heroes in his hand ready for action." Jaden said enthusiastic.

"Alright, now I activate the spell card Graceful Charity. This lets me draw 3 cards from my deck, but after that, I have to discard 2 cards from my hand." Michael explained as he drew 3 cards and discarded 2. "And with that, I end my turn."

"Okay, my move." Andrew said as he drew his next card.

"Don't forget. Thanks to my viruses, you have to send any monster card you draw from you're deck to the graveyard."

"Then luckily for me I drew a spell card instead. But first I summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman in defense mode." A stream of bubbles erupted from the ground and out of them, a light-blue armored man appeared. He was wearing a dark blue body suit underneath the armor, with light-blue boots, a white cape with two tanks on his back and some kind of water gun on his right hand. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 1200** LV: 4)

"If Bubbleman is the only card I have on the field when he's summoned, I get to draw two cards. And it looks like none of them are monsters." Andrew said as he revealed the two cards he drew.

"Wow! He's very lucky to draw so few monsters." Syrus commented

"You said it Sy. He should play the lottery." Jaden said

"Alright, now I play the spell card Monster Reborn. With this I can summon a monster from the grave, and I choose Elemental HERO Shadow Mist." With the power from the spell card, the black armored woman appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1500 LV: 4)

"When Shadow Mist is special summoned, I can add a quick-play spell card from my deck to my hand, as long as that card has the word 'Change' in its name."

' _Hm, a 'Change' quick-play card huh?_ ' Bastion thought

"And now I play my second Polymerization. And this time, I fuse Shadow Mist with Sparkman in my hand to form…" Shadow Mist was absorbed into the fusion vortex along with a gold armored man with a blue visor. "Elemental HERO Escuridao!" The new monster was a black armored warrior with claw-like fingers and two pairs of wings that seems to be made from the very shadows. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 2000 LV: 8)

"Impressive monster, but I'm afraid that it's not strong enough to take down my dragon." Michael commented.

"Well, that can be changed, thanks to my monster's special ability. For every Elemental HERO in my graveyard, Escuridao gains 100 attack points. There are six heroes in there, giving my hero 600 extra points." Escuridao was surrounded by a dark aura as a sign of getting the strength from the fallen heroes. ( **ATK: 2500-3100** )

"Sweetness! Now he can destroy that dragon." Jaden exclaimed.

"Yup, that's what I would have done." Chumley said.

"Escuridao, attack his Dark Armed Dragon." The dark hero gathered dark energy in her right palm and formed it into claws that are even longer than the normal ones, and flew towards the dragon in an attempt to slice it. But just as the hero monster was about to strike, a red armored warrior with long white hair appeared in front of the dragon and used its arms to block the attack.

"What?! What happened?" Andrew asked with a shocked tone.

"Your attack was canceled, thanks to my Necro Gardna." Michael replied. "He was one of the cards I discarded when I played Graceful Charity. If I have this monster in my graveyard, I can negate one attack by removing him from play."

"Aw man. He was so close to destroy that dragon." Syrus said.

"Yes. Michael certainly formulated a remarkable strategy to protect his dragon from harm."

' _To think that Michael managed to save his dragon, even though he doesn't have other traps on the field. He's really good.'_ Andrew thought with an impressed look in his face. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"My turn. And I'll start by activating the spell card Pot of Greed. This lets me draw two cards from my deck. And now I remove another monster from my graveyard to use my dragon's ability. Dark Armed Dragon, destroy his Escuridao.!" The dragon shot another spike from its tail, destroying the dark armored HERO. "And now I remove the last monster to destroy your Bubbleman." Once again, another spike shot out towards Andrew's monster. But when the spike was around 1 meter away from the blue armored HERO, he was suddenly enveloped in a light that blocked it.

"Whoa, What's happening to your monster?" Michael asked, as he was the one who was shocked this time.

"When you were targeting my Bubbleman, I activated my face down card. It's a spell card known as Mask Change."

"What does that do?"

"This card lets me send a HERO monster from my side of the field to the graveyard, and then I can summon a Masked HERO from my fusion deck with the same attribute that the sent monster had."

"Masked HERO, what's that?" Syrus asked

"Beats me, I've never heard of a HERO card like that." Jaden said

"I think I did." Bastion said as the slifer trio turned towards him. "As I recall, I've heard about a tournament that Maximillion Pegasus hosted a few months ago. That tournament offered a series of special HERO monsters as a Grande prize. Those cards were never released."

"Wow." Jaden before looking back at the duel. "I guess that guy won that tournament then. Now let's see what those Masked heroes can do."

In Bubbleman's place, a new monster appeared kneeling down on the field. It was a warrior clad in a blue and silver armor. He also wielded a long, white, double-pointed spear. (ATK: 2400 **DEF: 2000** LV:6)

"Michael, meet my Masked HERO Vapor."

"Wow. To summon a fusion monster by using one monster and no more. That's impressive." Michael commented.

"Thanks. And don't think Vapor is a pushover just because he has less points than your dragon. He's much stronger than you think."

"Then allow me to test his strength after playing this spell card, Burial from a Different Dimension. This lets me return up to 3 monsters that have been removed from the game to the graveyard. So I'll take back my two Mystic tomatoes and Plague wolf." Michael picked up the named monster cards from his pocket and let them slide into the graveyard slot. "And you know what that means, don't you? I can use my dragon's ability again, so I remove one of my monsters so I can destroy your Vapor."

The dragon shot another spike which exploded when it made contact with the masked hero. A cloud of smoke surrounded Andrew's side of the field. Michael smirked confidently at this, that is until the smoke cleared, revealing something surprising. Andrew's monster was kneeling down on the field, completely unharmed.

"He survived? But how?"

"My Vapor has a special ability…" Andrew replied. "He can't be destroyed by card effects."

Michael widened his eyes for a moment before chuckling while scratching the back of his head. "Well, I guess you got me there."

"Told ya he wasn't a pushover."

"Then I just have to destroy him the old fashioned way. But first, I summon Pitch-Black Warwolf." A humanoid wolf wearing pieces of armor and holding a curved sword appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 800 LV: 4) "Then I activate the spell card Rush Recklessly. This lets me choose a monster on the field and increase its atk with 700 points until the end of the turn. And I choose my warwolf." The monster howled feeling the power within him increase. ( **ATK: 1600-2300** )

"Pitch-Black Warwolf, attack his Vapor!" The monster ran towards the masked hero and slashed him with his sword. "Now Dark Armed dragon, strike his life points directly with Dark Dragon Talon Terror." The dragon raised its arm and slashed Andrew with its claws, forcing him to kneel down.

 **Andrew: 4000-1200**

"Ow, that's gotta hurt." Chumley commented.

"Yeah no kidding. He just lost more than half of his life points." Syrus said

"Don't worry guys, the duel has just begun. I'm sure he can turn things around." Jaden said

After recovering from that last attack Andrew stood up.

"So, do you want to give up?" Michael asked.

"I don't think so." Andrew replied, earning a smirk from his opponent.

"That's the spirit, keep fighting until the end. I end my turn."

"My draw." Andrew a card and frowned when he saw that it was a monster card, which means he had no choice but discard it.

"Frustrating isn't it? With my two viruses affecting your deck, you won't be able to do so much. In fact every duelist I used my virus combo against wasn't able to survive long enough to defeat me."

"Yeah, I can imagine that they had hard time to fight against someone with your skills. However, just because your virus combo gives you an upper hand doesn't mean it's guaranteed that you win. Anything can happen in a duel."

"Is that so? Well then, show me what you've got."

"With pleasure. I activate the spell card Legacy of a Hero. Here's how it works, if I have at least two level four or higher Elemental Heroes in my graveyard, I'm allowed to draw 3 cards from my deck." Andrew drew his 3 cards and apparently those three cards were a monster card, a spell card and a trap card. After discarding his monster card, Andrew held up one of his remaining cards. "Next I activate this card, Swords of Revealing Light." Michael's monsters were surrounded by swords of light. "This spell card prevents you from attacking for the next three turns. And with that done, I place one card face down and end my turn."

Michael drew his card. ' _If I'm not mistaking, his face down card is Fiendish Chain. That card has the power to stop an effect monster from attacking and use its abilities. Andrew is probably planning to use it to stop my dragon. Then I better wait until the right moment._

"I end my turn."

"Alright then, my move. First I play my own Pot of greed, which means two more cards for me." Andrew drew his two cards and was relieved that none of them were monster. "Next I activate the spell card E-Emergency Call. This lets me take an Elemental HERO from my deck and add it to my hand. And I think I'll summon it to field right now. Come forth, Elemental HERO Woodsman." The new monster kneeling down on the field was a green skinned man, with his right arm and leg being made of wood. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 2000** LV:4) "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"I draw." Michael looked at his new card and smirked. "Just the card I was waiting for. I summon Breaker the Magical Warrior." A man wearing a red outfit, resembling to Dark Magician appeared at the warwolf's right side. He was wielding a sword and a shield with a stone in the centre. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1000 LV: 4)

"What can he do?"

"I'm glad you asked. When Breaker is normal summoned, he gets a spell counter which gives him 300 extra attack points." The stone on the shield started to glow. ( **ATK: 1600-1900** ) "But he's not going keep it for long, cuz now I activate his second ability, by removing his spell counter, Breaker can destroy one spell or trap card on the field." The spellcaster held up his shield and aimed at one of Andrew's cards.

 _'Damn. I was hoping to use my trap card to stop his dragon, but I guess I have no other choice here.'_

"You triggered my trap, Fiendish Chain. This lets me choose an effect monster on the field, like your Breaker." Chains sprung up from the underground and wrapped themselves around Breaker the Magical Warrior, binding his movements. "Now then, as long as my trap card remains on the field, your monster won't be able to attack or use his abilities."

"Sweet. Now his spells and traps are safe."

"Not quite. He may have stopped Breaker, but there's still one monster on field with the capabilities to destroy his cards."

"Aw man, that's right. Dark Armed Dragon can use his ability."

"Alright, it's time for my dragon to break through your last defense. I remove my two last monsters from my graveyard in order to destroy your spell and face down card." The dragon's underbelly glowed purple, and then shot out twin disks of purple energy which struck down the revealing light card and the face down card. "Well, it's been fun, but I'm afraid this is the end. Dark Armed Dragon, attack his Woodsman." The dragon raised its arm once again and was about to strike down the wooden hero.

But before he was about to get hit, an electric barrier surrounded him and the attack was blocked. Michael was shocked by this turn of events. **(Yup, I said shocked. LOL)**

"What the hell? Where did that barrier come from?"

"It was created by a monster that was sent to my grave after I played Legacy of a Hero." Andrew explained as he held up a monster card depicting a mechanical turtle with a magnet at the tip of its tail. "It's called Electromagnetic Turtle. This monster has an ability similar to your Necro Gardna, but here's the difference; by removing this monster from my graveyard, I can end your battle phase."

"Simply remarkable," Bastion commented. "He actually managed to use Michael's virus combo to his advantage."

"You said it. This duel gets better by the minute."

Michael was quiet for a moment before he lets out an excited laugh. "Ha ha ha. Wow, you're even better than I thought. You are the first person who managed to remain in the game this far after I used my virus combo."

"Thanks. You are the toughest opponent I've faced yet."

"And I'm not going to get less. Since my battle phase has been ended, I switch my Pitch Black Warwolf to defense mode and end my turn with a face down card. You better make this turn count, cuz there won't be any more chances for you."

 _'I hate to admit it, but he's right. If I don't draw something good this turn, then it's game over for me.'_  
"I draw." Andrew looked at the card he drew and smiled.

"Well, what did you get?"

"You're about to find out. But first, I activate Woodsman's special ability, during each of my standby phases, I'm allowed to take a Polymerization from my deck or graveyard and add it to my hand."

 _'Hmm. He's probably planning to summon a fusion monster, so he can destroy my dragon. Good thing I placed my Staunch Defender trap card on the field. With it I can choose his target when he attacks. So no matter which monster he summons to field, my dragon will be safe.'_

"Now I play the spell card Mask Charge. This lets me take two cards from my graveyard and add them to my hand; a HERO monster and a Change quick play card." Andrew held up the two cards he returned so Michael could have a look at them. He of course widened his eyes when he saw which monster Andrew brought back.

 _'Uh oh.'_

"And now I summon back my old friend Stratos." The turbine winged hero appeared once again. "And with him summoned, I can once again use one of his abilities. And I choose his first ability and destroy your face down card." The hero used his turbines to create a cyclone, destroying Michael's trap card.

"Was that Staunch Defender?" Andrew asked.

"That's right. My plan was to use it to protect my dragon from your attack."

"Then nothing can stop me now, so I play Polymerization and combine my Stratos with Woodsman..." The fusion vortex appeared, absorbing the two heroes. "Now I summon Elemental HERO Gaia." The ground shook and cracked open, then a new monster that rivaled Dark Armed Dragon in size rose up from it. It was a warrior wearing a black armor with red spheres all over it. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF: 2600 LV: 6)

The whole crowd gasped in astonishment. "Whoa, that monster is huge. "Syrus commented

"You said it Sy." Jaden said. "And I always thought Thunder Giant was a big fella."

Michael stared at the monster with an amazed look in his face. "Wow, that's an impressive monster. So how do you plan to destroy my dragon with him?"

"By using his special ability of course." The hero smashed the ground with his fist and a crack formed from the fist to Dark Armed Dragon. Then suddenly, a light erupted from the crack and surrounded the dragon, causing it to roar in pain. "When Gaia is fusion summoned, he cuts your monster's attack points in half and then, all the points it lost are added to his own." ( **ATK: 2800-1400** ) The light crawled back into the crack and followed it back to Gaia's fist. Then the light was absorbed into his body, causing him to roar when he felt his power increase. ( **ATK: 2200-3600** )

"Now Gaia, attack his Dark Armed Dragon. Continent Smash!" Gaia ran towards the dragon and punched it with his fist. The dragon groaned before it shattered into pixels.

 **Michael: 2800-0600**

"Well done, but I'm still standing."

"That may be true, but this duel is over. For in case you have forgotten, my Stratos wasn't the only card I brought back from my graveyard."

Michael was confused by Andrew's reply, until his eyes widened in realization. "Oh crap, your spell card."

Andrew smirked as he held up the said card. "That's right, my Mask Change. Which means I can transform Gaia into a Masked HERO."A pillar of light surrounded Gaia. When the light faded, a new warrior stood there in Gaia's place. She was wearing a shining silver armor with a blue cape and wielded a sword. "Say hello to Masked HERO Dian. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 3000 LV: 8)

"2800 attack points!"

"More than enough to wipe you out. Dian, attack his Breaker and end this duel." Dian ran towards the magical warrior and stabbed him with her sword, causing him to shatter into pixels.

 **Michael: 0600-0000**

As the holograms disappeared, Andrew sighed in relief before he was approached by Michael who extended his hand with a grinning face.  
"Dude, that was an awesome duel. I can't believe you actually defeated me after I used my virus combo."

Andrew took the offer and both duelists shook hands. "Thanks, but this victory was not easily won. Like I said, you are the toughest opponent I've faced yet."

"He he. Thanks, you too. We should duel again someday."

"Yeah, just let me know when you want a rematch."

* * *

In the higher seats, an Obelisk blue girl watched as Andrew and Michael shook hands. "That was impressive, I hope I have the chance to duel him soon."

* * *

As the duelists released each other hands, they were approached by the Slifer trio and Bastion.

"Hey man, that was a nice dueling." Jaden said enthusiastically.

Bastion nodded. "Impressive indeed. I look forward to duel you someday."

"Thanks. My name is Andrew Wilson."

"So you're the transfer student we heard about. Well I'm Jaden Yuki, and welcome to Duel Academy. You're gonna love it in Slifer red. The dorms may be small, but they're extremely cozy and warm. Not to mention the food there is awesome."

"Well I wouldn't exactly say awesome, but it's pretty edible." Added Syrus

Andrew chuckled. "Well, something tells me that my time here is going to be interesting."

And so the slifers headed towards their dorm for dinner.

* * *

 **Phew, I'm finally done. The first chapter of my very first fanfic story. I've been reading the fanfic stories for quite some time and decided to write a story of my own. Of course I can't** **guarantee this story will be very good because of a few reasons. For example;**

 **-I'm living in Sweden, so my english is limited**

 **-I don't have much creativity, so writing this story won't be easy**

 **But even so I'll try my best to write this story. If you like it, good for you.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sun, beach and fairies**

It's been five days since Andrew was transferred to Duel Academy, and right now it was a peaceful morning at Academy Island, with the morning sun rising up and illuminating the environment. In the Slifer's dorm, specifically, the room belonging to Jaden, Syrus, Chumley and Andrew, the boys were sleeping peacefully. That is until Andrew awoke to a buzzing sound from the right side of his mattress. He turned towards to that sound and saw it was his cellphone that was buzzing. He turned it off saw that the time was 05:50 a.m.

"Time for my morning training." He muttered as he got out of his mattress and went to put some clothes on.

After a couple of minutes Andrew left the dorm and started his training with running. He was wearing a dark blue t-shirt, black shorts and white running shoes. He made his way towards the beach and ran a number of laps there. After that he moved on to push-ups, following up with sit-ups and finally, he walked up to a tree and used one of its branches to do some pull-ups. After finishing his training, Andrew took a look at his watch and saw that the time was 06:45 a.m., so he decided to watch the sea for a bit before heading back to the dorm.

"The salty sea breeze is nice." He said to himself.

"Yeah, I agree." A voice spoke up from behind, startling Andrew in the process. He turned around and saw an Obelisk blue girl standing in front of him. She had light blue hair tied in a ponytail that reached the middle of her back and sapphire blue eyes. "Sorry for startling you."

"Don't worry, it's alright. I just never expected to meet someone out here this early."

"Well, I happened to wake up earlier than usual and couldn't return to sleep. So I went out for a walk." The girl explained as she eyed him up and down. "And judging from your sweaty appearance, I assume that you woke up early to get some morning training."

"Yeah, I always wake up early in the morning to train. I like to keep myself in good shape. Oh, my name is Andrew Wilson by the way."

"Jenny Seigrain, a first year Obelisk. I've seen you before. You're that guy who dueled Michael, aren't you?"

"Yeah, that's right. He is a strong duelist, that's for sure. And he's also a very nice person. It's too bad that not all Obelisk blue students are as friendly as him." Andrew said, earning a sigh from the girl now named Jenny.

"I know. They're always looking down on Slifer and Ra students because of the ranks, when the truth of it is, the students from those dorms actually have potential."

"That's true. I have heard that one of my roommates named Jaden Yuki actually defeated the Obelisk boy dorm's headmaster."

"Yeah. I believe that he should be skilled enough to become an Obelisk blue. Or at least a Ra yellow.

Suddenly, they heard a beeping sound from Andrew's wrist. It was his watch that was showing the time was now 06:50 a.m.

"Oh, I think that's my cue to get back to my dorm. Later."

"Yeah, later." She waved at him as he ran off.

* * *

5 minutes later, Andrew reached the red dorm and went to the outhouse to take a shower. Once he was done, he changed into his slifer uniform and headed back to his room to see if the others have woken up. As he walked in, it turned out that Syrus was the first to awaken. Probably because of the sound of Andrew opening and closing the door. He yawned and rubbed his eyes before noticing Andrew standing at the door.

"Oh, hey Andrew. What time is it?"

The latter took a look at his watch before answering the question. "Well, it is now 07:10 a.m. So I suggest we get ready for class."

"Okay." Syrus got out of his bed and climbed up to get Chumley up. Andrew walked up to Jaden's bed and tried to wake him up.

"Hey, Jaden. Time to wake up." He said as he was shaking the brown haired slifer. But then...

POW!

"Alright! Attack him directly!" Jaden exclaimed in sleep as he accidentally punched Andrew in the face, sending the latter to the floor. This startled Syrus and Chumley who has woken up.

"Whoa! Are you okay Andrew?" Chumley asked.

He stood up, while rubbing his face. "Don't worry, I'm fine. But apparently, Jaden is a heavy sleeper."

"So what do we do now?"

Andrew stood there with a thinking pose for a moment, until a thought popped in his mind. "Oh, I know." He said with a mischievous look in his face as he pulled out and activated his duel disk. Syrus and Chumley's eyes blinked in confusion.

"Um, what are you doing?"

"Just giving Jaden a special wakeup call." Andrew drew a card from his deck and placed it on one of the slots and summoned a certain gold armored and electric HERO monster. "Okay Sparkman, Static shockwave." The hero pointed his finger towards Jaden and shot a thin stream electricity. Even though the electricity wasn't real, the shock was enough to give Andrew the result he expected.

"Gaaah!" Jaden jolted awake and fell out of the bed.

"Good morning sleepyhead." Andrew greeted as he deactivated his duel disk.

"Oh, morning Andrew. What's with the crazy wakeup call?"

"Well, it would be good to get up in time, unless you want to get into trouble for being late."

"Alright, then lets get some breakfast."

* * *

All four of them got dressed and headed towards the cafeteria to get some breakfast. Once they were finished, they went to the main building, were the classrooms were. They arrived in the classroom with 5 minutes remaining before the class started. They went to their seats and waited for the class to start. While they were waiting, Jaden decided to ask Andrew a question.

"Hey Andrew, can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"You know that you were transferred to Duel Academy almost three weeks after the entrance exam right?" Andrew nodded. "So, any reason why you didn't take that exam?"

Before Andrew got the chance to say anything, the teacher entered the classroom. This person was wearing a blue blazer similar to an Obelisk blue boy uniform but had some gold shoulder plates and trimmings along with a ruffled pink color. The teacher had long blond hair tied in a ponytail and wore make up. He could easily be mistaken as a woman if you didn't know he was a man known as Dr. Velian Crowler, headmaster of the Obelisk blue boys dorm.

"Alright everyone, be seated." Everyone took their seats and listened to Crowler as he was talking about card effects. When he was done with the lecture, he asked the students questions relating to how card effects can be activated when certain conditions are fulfilled. This went on until Crowler directed his attention to the lower seats, eyeing the slifers to pick up the next vict… um, candidate for the next question. Then he finally found the person to question.

"You there. Andrew Wilson." The student in question stood up.

"Yes?"

"Can you name 3 certain cards with the effect to grant automatic victory?"

Andrew stood there thinking for a moment. Crowler held a smug look in his face, expecting him to not be able to answer. However...

"3 cards that grant automatic victory. Well, first there is Exodia the Forbidden One. If you have that card in your hand along with Right Arm of the Forbidden One, Left Arm of the Forbidden One, Left Leg of the Forbidden One and Right Leg of the Forbidden One, you win the duel. Then there is the spell card Final Countdown. First you pay 2000 life points. Then after 20 turns have passed, including the turn the spell card was activated, you win the duel. And finally, there is the trap card Last Turn. In order to activate that card, your life points must be 1000 or lower. First you choose a monster you have on the field. Then all other cards on the field and in both players' hands are sent to the graveyard. After that, the opponent summons a monster from their deck. Then both monsters are forced to battle each other, but no player takes any battle damage. Once the battle is over, the player whose monster remains on the field until the end of the turn wins the duel. Unless the battle ended with a draw."

Once Andrew was done with his explanation, everyone was staring at him with stunned looks. Not only was he able to answer the question correctly, he also explained the details about the conditions required to activate the cards he mentioned. Crowler stared at him for a moment before snapping out of his shock and cleared his throat.

"Um, that's correct. A very good answer… For a slifer that is." He said while muttering the last part.

As Andrew sat back down, Jaden gave him an amazed look.

"Wow Andrew, you sure know your stuff. I mean, how could you answer the question the way you did."

"It's simple; I've studied. Something you should try."

Jaden scratched the back of his head while having an uneasy look on his face. "I could, but studying always gives me a headache."

Andrew chuckled at his comment.

* * *

In the higher seats, Jenny watched as she was impressed by how Andrew answered the question in such a detailed way. Another Obelisk blue girl was sitting next to her. She had long sandy blond hair and grayish-brown eyes. Her name was Alexis Rhodes.

"He is that boy you met earlier right?"

"Yup, that's him."

"And you are actually planning to challenge him?"

"Why not? You remember how he defeated Michael. He is really good and I want to see if he can give me a challenge."

Alexis nodded with an understanding look before focusing on the class.

* * *

 _Later that day_

The rest of the school day went well. The alchemy lesson with professor Banner was not bad, except when his demonstration with mixing some liquids caused an explosion. The history lesson was fascinating, at least for Andrew. Some of the other students on the other hand were bored, including Jaden who surprisingly enough (or rather not surprisingly enough) fell asleep. Andrew learned that people used to play duel monsters during in ancient Egypt and they used stone tablets instead of cards. Anyway, right now the classes were over and the students were leaving the classrooms. And that includes Jaden and his friends.

"Jeez Jaden, I knew that you weren't fond of studying, but falling asleep in class? That's just silly." Andrew said with an amused tone.

"I can't help it. The teacher's voice was just too boring. His voice is actually so boring that he could put a 5 years old hyperactive kid to sleep in a few minutes."

"Well, I wasn't paying attention the whole time either." Syrus said.

"Same here." Chumley said.

Andrew chuckled a little. "Anyway, I think I'll head towards the beach for a bit. You guys wanna come?"

"You can go ahead. We're heading to the card shop to get some new cards." Jaden said.

"Okay, see ya later." Andrew said as he and the others went separate ways.

* * *

After a good walk from the main building, Andrew reached his destination. Unlike the time he had his morning training there, the beach was full of many people, most of them wearing swimsuits and enjoying themselves. Most people were surfing, playing volleyball or just playing around in the water. Andrew went straight towards a shack were it was like a mini-restaurant and took a seat near a table.

"May I take your order sir?" A waiter asked as he approached him.

"A strawberry smoothie please."

The waiter nodded and withdrew to get what he ordered. While waiting, Andrew looked out at the ocean.

 _'It's been a while since I left home. I wonder how mom and dad is doing.'_ He thought as his mind began wandering back to his home in Domino City. And as it did so, the memory of the day he prepared for his journey to Academy Island began rushing back to him.

* * *

 **Flashback**

Andrew was in his bedroom packing his suitcase. This room had a bed, which was large enough for two people, a desk with a laptop, a small TV, and a wardrobe. While Andrew was packing, he suddenly heard someone knocking the door.

"Come in." He said to whoever was at the door.

The door opened to reveal none other than his parents. The father had short black hair and brown eyes and was wearing a white sweater and a pair of black pants. His face looked similar to Andrew, but more mature. The mother was a beautiful woman with dark blue hair that reached her shoulders and green eyes. She was wearing an indigo colored sweater and a white skirt going around her thighs.

"How's it going son." The father asked.

"Well, I'm almost done. I can't wait to see how Duel Academy looks like." Andrew said excitedly.

The father simply chuckled at his son's response. The mother on the other hand had a sad look in her face. Andrew noticed it.

"What's the matter mom?"

"Sorry honey. It's just… It's hard to believe that my little boy is about to set off on his first great adventure in life. I knew that this was about to happen eventually, but a small part of me does wish that you could attend to a normal school nearby. Because the thought of you being far far away from home makes me worried." She said softly.

Andrew stared at her in 5 seconds, before he approached her and gave her a comforting hug.

"I know how you feel mom. I'm going to miss the both of you as much as you are going to miss me. But… this is what I wanted to do; To attend to Duel Academy and become a Pro duelist." He backed away a bit so he could give her a reassuring smile. "I promise that I call you whenever I can. And I'll make you proud."

His mother stared at him with widened eyes before she smiled at him with soft ones.

"We know you will Andrew. Remember to focus on your studies, eat healthy so you grow strong, respect your elders, try to make some friends, and if you ever bring home a girl, make sure she's someone who you'll be proud of introducing to us." Andrew blushed a little by hearing the last part but remained silent.

"Alright then…" The father spoke up. "How about you finish your packing so we can drive you to where the helicopter will get you."

"Yeah." Andrew nodded as he continued with the packing. Once he was done, Andrew stood up while he had a determined expression and balled one of his hands into a fist.

 _'Duel Academy, here I come.'_

 **Flashback end**

* * *

As soon as his mind returned to the present, the waiter had set the beverage onto the table.

"Your smoothie sir. Enjoy."

"Thank you." Andrew took a sip of the smoothie and looked out at the ocean again. "Well, I'm here now. So all I can do now is to do my best and become one of the best students here at the academy."

"You sure are confident." A familiar voice spoke up. Andrew looked in the direction the voice came from, and saw that it was the same girl he met earlier.

"Hey Jenny. What brings you here?"

"Just to relax here on the beach. Mind if I sit here?"

"Sure, be my guest."

"Thank you." She said cheerfully as she took seat at the opposite side of the table. "Ya know, when I came here, I noticed that you were in deep thought. Is something bothering you?"

Andrew widened his eyes for a second before he shook his head. "No, it's nothing. I'm just a little homesick, that's all."

Jenny nodded. "I understand that feeling. Even though I choose to attend to this school, I can't help but to wonder how my mom is doing."

"And what about your dad?" This question caused the blue headed girl to make a bitter expression on her face.

"Sorry, but I'm not getting along with him. I'd rather not talk about it."

Andrew raised an eyebrow at her, wondering about her reaction. But he decided not to pressure her on it.

"I'm sorry if I stepped into sensitive territory."

"Don't worry, you didn't knew." She reassured him. "So, do you mind if I asked you something?"

"What is it?"

"Well, you were transferred to this school not long after the entrance exam. So I was just wondering; Why didn't you take the exam?"

"Hehe, that's funny. Because Jaden asked me the same question earlier, but I never had a chance to answer him."

"Is that so? Well, you can tell me, if that's okay."

"Sure, why not?"

* * *

A few minutes earlier, Jaden and the others came to the beach. Jaden was looking at the cards he got from the card shop.

"Sweet, these cards could be useful in my deck."

"Well I didn't get anything good." Syrus said with disappointment in his voice.

"Yeah, me neither." Chumley said.

"No worries. You guys might have better luck next time. Anyway, I wonder where Andrew is. He said he should be here." Jaden said.

The slifer trio looked around until Syrus noticed their friend. "Look, there he is." Jaden and Chumley looked in the direction he was pointing at, and saw Andrew at the shack, sitting at a table along with an Obelisk blue girl.

"Huh? Who's that girl he's talking to?" Chumley asked.

"Beats me. But I think we should check it out." Jaden said as he and his friends went up to the shack and hid at the corner so they could eavesdrop the conversation. Jaden widened his eyes when the Obelisk blue girl asked Andrew a certain question. _'Yeah, that's right. Andrew haven't told me yet.'_

Andrew took a deep breath before telling his story. "Okay, it all happened six weeks before the day of the entrance exams."

* * *

 **Flashback**

Andrew was walking around in Domino City, enjoying the weather. He came to a crosswalk and saw a little girl there who was running after her ball. And to his shock, she did this completely unaware of the car approaching her. Without thinking, he lunged into the street, grabbing her shoulders and yanking her out of the way, tossing her onto the sidewalk and out of harm's way. Unfortunately, Andrew wasn't able get out of the way. The last thing he remembered before everything went black, was pain.

 _A few hours later_

Andrew's eyes twitched and they opened. When he was fully awake, he realized he was in a hospital bed. He looked down at himself and realized he was wearing a hospital gown. He also noticed that he was wearing cast on his left leg, meaning his leg was broken. He also had bandages wrapped around his upper body, even if he can't see it through the hospital gown, he could feel it. Andrew checked his surrounding and noticed a window on the right side of the room. At the left side of his bed he saw a few medical machines, indicating blood pressure, heartbeat, and things like that. He also saw something that looked like an IV drip, and realized it was connected to him.

"Well, at least I'm still alive."

He suddenly heard the door at the corner of the room open, and the person who walked into the room was a man wearing a white coat and glasses. Even 4 years olds could tell that this person was a doctor.

"It seems you're awake now."

"Yeah, it seems like it. How long was I out?" Andrew asked.

"You've been out of it for 3 hours."

"3 hours? Well I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I was hit by a car after all. To be honest, I actually thought I was going to die?"

"Well, it's a miracle that you survived. Because the car hit you straight-on, you have a few ribs as well as your left leg broken. You also have concussion."

"Lovely." Andrew said sarcastically.

Suddenly, a nurse walked into the room.

"Sorry for disturbing you doctor, but mr and mrs Wilson would like to know if they could see their son."

The doctor nodded. "Well, I think it's okay for them to visit him since he's awake now. Right?" He said as he turned towards Andrew.

"Yes, of course. Let them in." With that said, the nurse gave his parents permission to visit him. As soon they came in, the mother ran up to Andrew and gave him a hug.

"Oh Andrew. We're so glad you're okay." She said with a concerned voice.

"Yeah. Seriously son, what you did was very reckless. You could have died." The father said with a scolding, but gentle voice.

"Sorry about that. I just couldn't help it. When I saw that car approaching that girl, my body acted by it's own. But that's just who I am; always helping other people, even if I cause some trouble for myself."

The father shook his head. "Well, what matters is that you're fine." He then turned towards the doctor." So, how long will it take for Andrew to recover."

"Well, the ribs and left leg are not seriously broken,but even so, I believe that your son will need at least six to eight weeks to recover."

This information caused Andrew to widen his eyes.

"Six to eight weeks? But if I wait that long, what about Duel Academy's entrance exams? I can't just…" He stopped at mid sentence when his mother placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry dear, but if he say that you need that much time to recover, there's nothing we can do."

Andrew sighed in disappointment. "I guess it can't be helped."

The parents looked at him sympathetically, but then a thought crossed the father's mind.

"Oh, I almost forgot." He said as he reached into a pocket and grabbed a note which he then handed over to his son. "The girl that you saved earlier asked us to give you this."

Andrew took the note and read it.

 _Dear Andrew  
Thank you for saving my life. I was so scared when you got hit by that car.  
Your mom and dad said I could visit you when you feel better.  
I hope you get better soon.  
_

 _From Lily._

After reading the letter, Andrew smiled a bit. "At least it's not a total loss."

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"...And that's the whole story."

Jenny was in awe of Andrew's story. And so were Jaden and the others. By all accounts, not many people would risk themselves to save someone like that.

"Wow. You actually did something like that? I can hardly believe it."

Andrew scratched at the back of his head while smiling sheepishly. "Well, wether people believe it or not doesn't bother me. What I care about is to help someone if necessary. So if you need some help from me, just let me know."

"I really appreciate it, thanks." Jenny suddenly had a sly look in her face. "You know what? There is something you can help me with."

"What is it?"

"As you know, it's not very long until promotion exams. And even though I'm prepared for the writing part, I could use some practice to prepare myself for the field test."

"You mean you want to duel me?"

"Yeah, that's right. After seeing your duel against Michael, I believe that dueling you could be a good practice for the promotion exams. So, how about it?"

Andrew thought about it for a moment before nodding.

"Alright then. Let's do this."

The two of them left the shack to find a clear area, where they could duel each other. Jaden was naturally grinning with interest by this.

"Come on guys, let's follow them." With that said, the slifer trio followed them.

* * *

Eventually, Andrew and Jenny found a clear area on the beach, where they could duel. Just as they activated their duel disks, they noticed Jaden and his friends showing up.

"Hi guys." Andrew called out. "I was wondering when you would show up."

"Yeah, sorry for taking so long." Jaden replied. "But at least we have arrived just in time to see you throw down."

"So did we." A voice spoke up, causing the slifer trio to turn toward its direction and saw Alexis accompanied with her two female friends Jasmine (the one with brown hair) and Mindy (the one with black hair).

"Oh, hi Alexis. What brings you girls here?"

"What do you think?" Alexis asked. "We heard that Jenny was going to challenge your friend and decided to watch this."

"That's cool." Jaden said before turning toward his friend. "Show her what you got Andrew."

The latter gave Jaden a thumbs up before drawing five cards his deck. "Are you ready?"

"Yup." Jenny said.

"Well then…"

"Let's duel!"

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Jenny: 4000**

"Ladies first."

"You're too kind. But that won't make me go easy on you. First I activate the field spell The Sanctuary in the Sky." The sandy ground was replaced by a floor of clouds, and a white stone palace appeared right behind Jenny. "This field spell has the power to protect either players from battle damage when one of their fairy type monsters battles."

 _'A fairy deck huh.'_ Andrew thought.

"And now I activate the continuous spell card Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen. If I have no monsters on the field, I can special summon a fairy type monster from my hand. I choose Bountiful Artemis." A mechanical angel with large wings and a purple cape appeared. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1700 LV: 4)

"Then I summon Meltiel, Sage of the Sky in attack mode." A woman whose body was covered in white feathers and wearing a thin orange armor appeared on the field. She also had a pair of white feathered wings on her back and a golden ring of light floating around her waist. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "I'll end my turn with two face downs."

"My move. I summon Elemental HERO Heat in attack mode." A new hero appeared. This one wore a fiery red, white and yellow armor, had a white and yellow mask with green eyes over his face and was quite muscular. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1200 LV: 4)

"Sweet." Jaden exclaimed. "Another new hero."

"But he has the same attack points as those two fairies." Syrus commented

"Not exactly. Sure, he starts out with 1600 points, but thanks to his special ability he gains 200 attack points for every Elemental HERO I control, including himself." The fiery hero flexed his muscles as his power grew stronger. ( **ATK: 1600-1800** ) "Now attack her Bountiful Artemis with Burning fist." Heat ignited one of his fists and dashed towards the mechanical angel.

"Not so fast! I activate the trap card Negate Attack, and while I'm at it, I play my other trap, Solemn Wishes." Jenny announced as her two face down cards revealed themselves while one of them created a red barrier that blocked Heat's punch. And then the two fairies glowed with a golden aura.

"What's going on?" Chumley wondered.

"My two monsters has special abilities that can only be activated when a counter trap card is played, like Negate Attack. Let's start with Meltiel's ability; every time a counter trap card is activated, I gain 1000 life points." Jenny explained as the same golden aura surrounded her, increasing her life points

 **Jenny: 4000-5000**

"And there's more, since I have The Sanctuary in the Sky on the field, she automatically destroys one card you control." The ring around Meltiel's waist glowed for a moment, and then sent out a pulse of energy that destroyed Andrew's monster.

"Aw man. Now Andrew is defenseless."

"Don't worry Sy. He can turn things around."

While the Slifiers were speaking, the Obelisk girls, minus Alexis were cheering.

"Way to go Jenny." Jasmine said

"Yeah, go get him." Mindy said.

"Now then, time to use my Artemis's ability; whenever a counter trap is activated, I get to draw a card from my deck." As Jenny drew her next card, her Solemn Wishes card was reacting. "And this move triggers the effect of my Solemn Wishes card. Every time I draw cards from my deck, I gain 500 life points."

 **Jenny: 5000-5500**

 _'This is bad. Not only is she protected from battle damage, but her_ _life points are increasing by the minute. I have to do something about her combo.'_ Andrew thought worriedly. "I place two cards face down and end my turn.

"Then it's my turn. And don't forget, I gain 500 life points from Solemn Wishes."

 **Jenny: 5500-6000**

"Next I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards from my deck."

 **Jenny: 6000-6500**

"And now I summon The Agent of Force - Mars." A red skinned angel wearing a red clothing and holding a double sided hammer appeared in the air. ( **ATK: 0** DEF: 0 LV: 3)

"Zero attack points?" Chumley asked.

"What's up with that?" Jaden asked.

"Well, I know it's something bad, that's for sure." Andrew said.

"Yup, that's right." Jenny said with a smile. "You see, The Agent of Force has an ability that only works when I have my field spell in play. As long as I have more life points than you, Mars gain attack and defense points equal to the difference." The red angel glowed with a fiery aura. ( **ATK: 0-2500** DEF: 0-2500) "Now Mars, attack him directly with Heavenly Hammer." The creature flew forward and was about to smash Andrew with the Hammer.

"I activate my trap, Call of the Haunted. Now I can summon a monster from my graveyard in attack mode. So say hello to my old friend Heat." The armored hero came back from the grave. ( **ATK: 1600-1800** )

"Then I'll just have Mars destroy him instead." The said angel smashed the hero with its hammer, shattering him to pixels.

 **Andrew: 4000-3300**

( **ATK: 2500-3200** DEF: 2500-3200) "And now you're wide open."

"Guess again, cuz now when you destroyed my monster, I can activate my other trap, Hero Signal." As his trap card activated, a spotlight appeared, showing a special 'H' symbol in the sky. "Thanks to this, I can summon a level 4 or lower Elemental HERO. And I think I summon Elemental HERO Woodsman in defense mode." The green skinned wooden man crouched down in front of Andrew. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4)

"Lishus! With 2000 defense points, Andrew's monster will be able to keep the other fairies away from him."

"I admit that it wasn't a bad move, but this is far from over." Alexis said.

"Aww, I almost had you." Jenny pouted, before inserting a card into her duel disk. "Oh well. Since I can't do anything about it, I'll just end my turn with a face down."

"I draw. And since it's my standby phase, I can activate Woodsman's ability. Now I can…" Andrew was interrupted by Jenny who was wagging her finger.

"Uh uh uh. I won't let you do anything with your Woodsman, because I activate my face down card, Divine Punishment." The top of the palace unleashed a ray of light which destroyed the wooden hero. "Thanks to The Sanctuary in the Sky, I can use this card to negate an opponent's spell, trap, or monster effect and destroy it. And since Divine Punishment is a counter trap, Meltiel and Artemis's abilities activates." She explained as she drew a card and her life points increased.

 **Jenny: 6500-8000** ( **ATK: 3200-4700** DEF: 3200-4700)

"Come on." Syrus complained. "Like she didn't have enough life points already."

"Not to mention that her Agent grows even stronger." Jaden said. "But still, there's still a chance that Andrew can make a comeback."

"I don't know about that." Alexis said, getting the slifer's attention. "Don't get me wrong, Andrew may be good. But Jenny is very skilled. I know, because I've known her since we were kids. Whenever she dueled, she was able to counter almost everyone of her opponent's moves. And that makes her one of the school's strongest first year students."

"But even so, the duel is not over until the last card is played."

Andrew overlooked his hand. _'Okay, I might not be able to fusion summon a monster, but I can at least do this…'_

"First I draw two cards, thanks to my Pot of Greed. And one of them is Monster Reborn, and I'll use it to bring back Heat to the field." The fiery hero came back once again. ( **ATK: 1600-1800** ) "And now I activate the spell card HERO's Bond. Since I have a hero on the field, I'm allowed to summon 2 level 4 or lower Elemental Heroes from my hand. Say hello to Elemental HERO Stratos and Elemental HERO Lady Heat." The turbine winged hero appeared on the field, along with a woman who had fiery colored hair and was wearing a suit with a color scheme similar to her armored counterpart. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 300 LV: 4) ( **ATK: 1300** DEF: 1000 LV: 4)

Jenny widened her eyes when she recognized one of the heroes. "Stratos. You used that HERO when you defeated Michael."

"Then you should remember one of his abilities; As soon as he's summoned to the field, I can destroy spell and trap cards up to the number of other hero monsters I control. So thanks to Heat and Lady Heat, I can destroy your Valhalla card and your field spell." Jenny watched in dismay as Stratos unleashed a cyclone, thanks to his wings, and destroyed her continuous spell, while her field spell tray popped open, causing the heavenly area disappear.

"Lishus!" Chumley cheered.

"Awesome." Syrus said. "Now Andrew can damage her life points."

"And the best part is that now her Mars loses all its extra points." As Jaden said this, the red angel fell down on its knees and felt weaker. ( **ATK: 4700-0** DEF: 4700-0)

"And don't forget, for every Elemental HERO on my field, my Heat grows stronger." ( **ATK: 1600-2200** ) "Now it's time to take down the fairies and clip their wings. Lady Heat, attack her Mars!" The fiery heroine conjured a fire ball in her right hand and threw it at the angel, destroying it with a bang.

 **Jenny: 8000-6700**

"Stratos, blow away her Artemis!" The turbine winged hero unleashed another cyclone which struck the mechanical fairy.

 **Jenny: 6700-6500**

"And now Heat, turn her Meltiel into a crisp!" Heat ignited his fist once again and struck the remaining fairy in the head with a burning blow.

 **Jenny: 6500-5900**

Despite the loss of her monsters, Jenny was smiling. "Wow, that was impressive. You actually defeated one of my best monsters. For a moment there I thought you were finished. But you made a nice comeback."

Andrew smiled at her compliment. "Thanks. And if you liked that, get ready for this." He said as he held up the only card in his hand. "I play the spell card Mask Change."

"Sweet. He's about to summon a Masked HERO." Jaden said with excitement in his voice.

"Now Stratos, time to transform." The hero was surrounded by a whirlwind and started to glow. "Now arise, as Masked HERO Divine Wind." The monster came out of the whirlwind. But instead of the winged hero, this monster was a warrior wearing an emerald green armor with a white cape. ( **ATK: 2700** DEF: 1900 LV: 8)

"My Heat may lose some points, ( **ATK: 2200-2000** ) but it's worth it for my new monster here. Go, Divine Wind, attack Jenny directly with Storming Justice!" The masked hero created a powerful storm wind which almost made Jenny to fall down.

 **Jenny: 5900-3200**

"And to end my turn, I activate Lady Heat's special ability, during my end phase, you take 200 points of damage for every Elemental HERO I have on the field." Lady Heat conjured another fire ball in her hand and threw it at the fairy duelist, scorching her a little.

 **Jenny: 3200-2800**

"Now that's what I call crash and burn." Jaden remarked.

Jenny recovered from the attacks and drew her next card "My move."

 **Jenny: 2800-3300**

"First I discard a monster known as Zeradias, Herald of Heaven." As she discarded her card, a creature appeared in front of her for a moment; A man with blue pants, brown boots, a red face, fully yellow eyes, a green helmet with two red horns, a red silk belt with a yellow gem, green forearm armor pieces, and two green feathery wing. He was wielding a double-bladed javelin. "By doing this, I can take a certain field spell from my deck and add it to my hand."

Andrew almost grimaced, knowing exactly which card she was referring to. "The Sanctuary in the Sky, right?"

Jenny giggled. "You got that right. So welcome back to Heaven.~" The field returned to its cloudy state. "And now I play Nova Summoner in attack mode." The monster she summoned was an orange circle with bluish wrapping, white wings and a green core." ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 800 LV: 4) "Now attack his Lady Heat!" The creature's core glowed with a green light and fired a blast of energy at the said heroine, who was destroyed. This of course made Heat weaker. ( **ATK: 2000-1800** )

 **Andrew: 3300-3200**

"I end my turn."

"I draw. Elemental HERO Heat, attack Nova Summoner!" The fiery warrior dashed towards the flying ring and destroyed it with his burning fist."

"I activate Nova Summoner's ability, when it's destroyed in battle, I can summon a fairy type monster from my deck with up to 1500 attack points. And I choose another Nova Summoner." An exact copy of the ring creature appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 800 LV: 4)

"Divine Wind, attack." The green armored hero created a tornado that closed in on Nova Summoner and sliced it apart. "And since my masked hero destroyed a monster in battle, I'm allowed to draw one card from my deck." Andrew explained as he drew another card.

"But don't forget, thanks to my monster, I can summon another fairy to the field. And I think I choose one of my favorites." The monster that appeared was something much different; a centaur like creature with a white lower half. He was wearing a blue and gold armor that was decorated with white feathers, and had a green shield on one arm, and a sword on the other. But something about this monster wasn't right, and Syrus was the first one to notice it. ( **ATK: 1900** DEF: 1400 LV: 5)

"1900 attack points? No fair, she said she can summon a monster with up to 1500 points."

"Yeah, how was she able to summon a monster this strong?" Chumley asked.

Then to everyone's surprise, Jaden had a good idea what the reason might be. "You know what guys? I have a feeling that her field spell is behind this."

Jenny nodded after hearing what he said. "Yup, that's right. I know what I said earlier about Nova Summoner. But what I never mentioned is that if I have The Sanctuary in the Sky on the field, I'm allowed to summon Airknight Parshath instead."

"Aw man. Is it any card in her deck that has nothing to do with the field spell?"

"Relax Syrus. That monster monster only has 1900 points. Sure, it might be able to take down Andrew's Heat, but not his masked hero. He got this."

"I'm not so sure about that." Alexis commented.

"What makes you say that Alexis?"

"Because if I know Jenny as well as I think I do, then I believe that she's about to bring out her best monster."

The Slifer trio became nervous by hearing this.

"That doesn't sound good."

"I end my turn." Andrew said.

"Alright…"

 **Jenny: 3300-3800**

"First I activate the spell card known as Card of Demise. It lets me draw until I have five cards in my hand."

 **Jenny: 3800-4300**

Jenny looked at her cards and smirked. "Next I play Spell Absorption. As long as this card remains on the field, I gain 500 life points when a spell card is activated. Like this one for example, Monster Reincarnation. By discarding one card from my hand, I can take a monster from my graveyard and add it to my hand. I choose The Agent of Force."

 **Jenny: 4300-4800**

"And now I summon him to the field." The red angel appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 0-1600** DEF: 0-1600 LV: 3)

"Um, I think Jenny have to do better than that if she want to take down Andrew's monster." Jaden commented.

"I never said that Mars is her best monster." Alexis replied.

"Really? What could be better than that monster?"

"Just wait and see."

Andrew was starting to get nervous as this went on. _'I don't know what she's up to, but it can't be good.'_

"Alright, time for my Airknight Parshath to evolve."

Andrew blinked in confusion. "What do you mean 'evolve'?"

"You're about to find out. As strong as my monster may be, he can be even stronger. You see, by sacrificing my Airknight Parshath…" The said monster was suddenly shining and transformed. "I'm allowed to summon Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin." When the transformation was complete, it had turned into a regal humanlike figure clothed in a mass of white feathers, with a pair of wings. It wore a blue and gold armor, and also had a blue and gold shield, as well as a sword.( **ATK: 2300** DEF: 2000 LV: 7)

"A monster with 2300 attack points?" Syrus asked. "That's still not enough to give her the upper hand."

"That monster must have a powerful ability." Andrew pointed out.

"You're right. And it only works with The Sanctuary in the Sky on the field. When I have more life points, he gains attack and defense points equal to the difference, just like Mars." The majestic fairy type monster glowed brightly as it grew stronger. ( **ATK: 2300-3900** DEF: 2000-3600) Then I equip him with the spell card Cestus Dagla." The paladin's shield was replaced by a 'D' shaped dagger.

 **Jenny: 4800-5300** ( **ATK: 3900-4400** DEF: 3600-4100) ( **ATK: 1600-2100** )

"Thanks to this card, my monster gains 500 attack points. ( **ATK: 4400-4900** )

"4900?" Chumley exclaimed.

"Oh boy." Jaden said.

"You got him now Jenny." Jasmine cheered.

"Yeah, take him down." Mindy Cheered.

"I hope you're ready, cuz you're about to bite the dust." Jenny said confidently

Andrew stood there and gave her a brave look. "Bring it."

"Okay, you asked for it. Neo-Parshath, attack his Heat with Celestial Judgement blade." The super powered fairy raised its sword and swung it downward, sending out an arc of golden energy which destroyed the fiery armored hero.

 **Andrew: 3200-100**

"Oh no! Andrew's life points are almost down to zero." Syrus cried out.

"And since those points got lower, Jenny's monsters gets even stronger." Jaden said

( **ATK: 4900-8000** DEF: 4100-7200) ( **ATK: 2100-5200** )

"It's about to get worse. Because Neo-Parshath has another ability; by causing battle damage, I get to draw a card from my deck." She explained as she drew a card.

 **Jenny: 5300-5800** ( **ATK: 8000-8500** DEF: 7200-7700) ( **ATK: 5200-5700** )

"And there's more, thanks to Cestus Dagla's effect, I gain life points equal to the battle damage you just took."

 **Jenny: 5800-8900** ( **ATK: 8500-11600** DEF: 7700-10800) ( **ATK: 5700-8800** )

"Whoa! Their attack strengths are insane." Chumley said.

"And she hasn't attacked with Mars yet. It's over." Syrus pointed out.

"Come on Andrew! Hang in there!" Jaden called out.

"Now Agent of Force, finish him." Jenny commanded as the red angel was about to attack.

But then, a wind barrier surrounded the monster, preventing it from going anywhere. Everyone watching this were shocked, but not nearly as shocked as Jenny.

"What?! What's going on?" She asked before turning towards Andrew, who were laughing a bit. She also noticed the green armored hero glowing.

"Sorry about that, but my Divine Wind used his ability to stop your monster. As long as he remains on the field, the opponent can only attack with one monster per turn."

"Sweet. That means Andrew can still win this."

"Awesome. Way to play Andrew!" Syrus cheered.

"Well, never thought it would be this hard to defeat him." Alexis said.

Jenny was really impressed by this. "Amazing! I can't believe you're hanging in there like this. You are incredible."

Andrew scratched at the back of his head while chuckling. "Thanks. You're really good yourself. Especially after I damaged your life points, only for you to regain them, and increase them even more." He then balled up one of his hands into a fist while smirking confidently. "But even so, I won't stand down until the last life points expires."

"Then let's continue this duel. I end my turn."

Andrew drew his next card and smiled at it. "Alright, now I activate the spell card Swords of Revealing Light." Swords of light appeared at Jenny's field, surrounding her monsters.

 **Jenny: 8900-9400** ( **ATK: 11600-12100** DEF: 10800-11300) ( **ATK: 8800-9300** )

"From now on, you can't attack for three turns. But just in case, I switch Divine Wind to defense mode and end my turn." The said monster kneeled down.

"My move."

 **Jenny: 9400-9900** ( **ATK: 12100-12600** DEF: 11300-11800) ( **ATK: 9300-9800** )

Jenny stared at the card she drew and nodded. "Now Mars, attack his Divine Wind."

"What? How can you attack when I have my revealing light card on the field?"

"I guess I forgot to mention Mars' second ability; He's immune to all spell cards."

Andrew widened his eyes and watched the red angel bypassing the swords.

"Which means your monster is not safe from my attack." The said monster flew forward and was about crush the armored warrior with the hammer. But then, to everyone's shock, the hero grabbed the hammer and pushed Mars away.

"Nice try, but my hero has one more ability; He can't be destroyed in battle."

Jaden and his friends were relieved by this. Alexis' friends on the other hand...

"What? Are you serious?" "Come on, can't this guy just lose already?" Alexis almost sighed at their comments.

"Okay, since I can't do anything about it, I end my turn with a face down."

"My turn. I place a face down card of my own and end my turn."

 **Jenny: 9900-10400** ( **ATK: 12600-13100** DEF: 11800-12300)( **ATK: 9800-10300** )

Jenny smirked, deciding to deliver the finishing blow. "I reveal my face down card, Light of Judgement. This trap card lets me discard a light attribute monster in order to send a card in your hand or field to the graveyard. So there goes for your swords." The light swords surrounding her monsters were absorbed by the palace. "And now Neo-Parshath, attack his Divine Wind."

Andrew was surprised by this. "But why? My Divine Wind is in defense mode and he can't be destroyed in battle. So what's the point."

Jenny giggled. "Oh sorry. But I guess I forgot to mention this, my Paladin can cause battle damage, even if he attacks a monster in defense mode."

The fairy was about to raise its sword, but was stopped by chains that suddenly appeared and wrapped themselves around it.

"No way! Where did those chains come from?"

"I activated the trap card Fiendish Chain. This lets me choose an effect monster on the field, like your Paladin. This trap prevents it from attacking, and its abilities are negated." ( **ATK: 13100-2800** DEF: 11800-2000)

"Sweet. Now the only monster that can attack is Agent of Force. But Andrew's monster can't be destroyed. Way to go Andrew."

"I end my turn."

"Alright, here goes." Andrew stared at the card he draw. It was a monster card with the picture of a skeleton figure wearing a crimson red cape and a white mask with yellow eyes. It also wielded a staff made of bones with a purple orb attached to it.

 _"Hm."_ A voice hummed. Andrew was confused by hearing it. Jenny raised her eyebrow when she noticed the look in his face.

"Is something wrong?"

Andrew snapped out of his confusion and shook his head. "N-no, its nothing. I was just thinking. Anyway, I summon Phantom Magician in defense mode." The skeleton creature stood next to Divine Wind. (ATK: 600 **DEF: 700** LV: 3) "And now it's your turn."

"Okay then…"

 **Jenny: 10400-10900** ( **ATK: 10300-10800** )

"Agent of Force, attack his magician." The angel raised its hammer and smashed the skeleton to pieces.

"Thank you. By destroying Phantom Magician, you activated his special ability. Now I can summon a HERO monster with up to 1000 attack points from my deck to the field in defense mode. So say hello to Elemental HERO Shadow Mist." A dark portal appeared, and out of it came the dark armored heroine. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1500** LV:4) "And since she was special summoned, I can take a 'Change' quick play spell card from my deck and add it to my hand."

 _'Sounds like he's planning to summon another Masked HERO.'_ Jenny thought. "Okay, I end my turn."

"Then it's time for me to turn this tide. I play the spell card Form Change. This spell card lets me send a HERO fusion monster I control back to my fusion deck and summon a Masked HERO with the same level but a different name." As Andrew finished his explanation, a pillar of light surrounded Divine Wind. "Now I summon Masked HERO Acid." The light faded and revealed a warrior clad in dark blue armor, with a red center that had a golden star over it. In his right hand, he carried a silver gun. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2100 LV: 8)

 **Jenny: 10900-11400** ( **ATK: 10800-11300** )

"Wow, this hero is cool." Jaden beamed.

"But he doesn't have enough attack points to destroy my fairies." Jenny replied.

"Oh but that won't be the case. Not after he used his ability. As soon as he's summoned to the field, all your spell and trap cards are destroyed."

She gasped as the hero aim his gun at her field and fired a stream of purple liquid that dissolved her cards, including the field spell.

"Lishus. Now with the field spell gone, her monsters will lose all their extra points again." ( **ATK: 2800-2300** ) ( **ATK: 11300-0** )

"But that's not all." Andrew spoke up. "Since Acid destroyed the spell cards with his first effect, his second effect kicks in. Now all monsters you currently have on the field loses 300 attack points." Jenny turned towards her Paladin and noticed it had been hit by the stream of acid. It fell to its knees and groaned in pain. ( **ATK: 2300-2000** )

"And now I play the spell Mask Charge. Now I can take a HERO monster along with a Change card from my graveyard and add them to my hand. I choose Woodsman and Mask Change. And I think I'll use the spell card to change Shadow Mist into a new hero." The heroine was enveloped in a pillar of dark energy. "Say hello to Masked HERO Anki." A new warrior came out of the pillar, wearing a jet black armor. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 1200 LV: 8)

"And since Shadow Mist was sent to the graveyard, I can take a HERO monster from my deck and add it to my hand. And since I haven't normal summoned this turn yet, I play my hero right now. Go, Elemental HERO Blazeman." The monster he summoned was a red armored warrior with flames upon his head. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "When this monster is normal or special summoned, I can add a Polymerization from my deck to hand. And I'll use it right away to fuse my Blazeman and Woodsman to form Elemental HERO Nova Master." The two heroes merged to form the red and orange armored warrior. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2100 LV: 8)

"Wow, Andrew summoned 3 monsters with 2600 and 2800 attack points in one turn. Wicked."

"Awesome. Now he can take down those fairies."

"Yup, that's exactly what I would do."

"Masked HERO Anki, destroy her Agent of Force." Anki melted into the ground and disappeared with incredible speed. Jenny looked around, wondering where he is. But was startled when he suddenly emerged from the ground just as quickly, appearing right in front of the red angel and slashing it into pieces."

 **Jenny: 11400-8600**

"And now Anki's ability activates. Since he destroyed a monster in battle, I'm allowed to add another Change card from my deck to my hand."

Jaden and the others were excited by this. Alexis was also impressed. But then, there is Jasmine and Mindy.

"What? Another quick play spell card?"

"That is so damn annoying."

Jenny wasn't so much pleased either.

"No way. So you can summon another hero?"

"Yes, but before that, I'm going to have Nova Master attack your Neo-Parshath." The fiery hero formed a fire ball and threw it at the weakened fairy.

 **Jenny: 8600-8000**

"And since he destroyed a monster in battle, I draw a card." Andrew glanced at the card he drew, and smiled. "And now I attack you directly with Masked HERO Acid. Go, Acid Blast!" Jenny used her arms to shield herself as Acid let loose another shot that caused her to wince in pain.

 **Jenny: 8000-5400**

"And now I play my second Form Change so my Acid can transform into Masked HERO Dian." Acid's body shined brightly and was then replaced by the silver armored warrior. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 3000 LV: 8)

"Now Dian, attack her directly!" Dian dashed towards Jenny and stabbed her with her sword.

 **Jenny: 5400-2600**

Jenny rubbed her belly while groaning in pain. "That was impressive. But I'm still standing."

"Then it's a good thing that my Nova Master made me draw the card I needed to end this." Andrew replied, causing his opponent to widen her eyes.

"What? What did you drew?"

"A spell card known as…" He paused dramatically before revealing the card he held. "Flash Fusion."

Everyone were shocked, but Jenny was the most shocked person of them all.

"I can't believe it."

"But it's true. And now I can instantly summon a fusion monster by fusing the monsters I have on the field. Nova Master! Anki! Fuse together!" The two monsters jumped into the air and were sucked into a fusion vortex. "Now come forth, Elemental HERO Escuridao!" The dark armored Elemental hero came out of the vortex and landed right in front of Andrew. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 2000 LV: 8)

"And thanks to her special ability, Escuridao gains 100 attack points for every Elemental HERO in my graveyard." The spirits of Stratos, Heat, Lady Heat, Woodsman, Shadow Mist, Blazeman and Nova Master appeared before being absorbed into Escuridao's body, making her stronger. ( **ATK: 2500-3200** )

"This duel is over. Escuridao, attack her directly with Night Claw Slash!" The warrior flew forward and slashed Jenny with her claw, forcing her down to her knees.

 **Jenny: 2600-0000**

The holograms disappeared and Andrew was approached by his friends.

"That duel was so sweet Andrew." Jaden complimented.

"Yeah, I actually thought you were done for there." Syrus said.

"Thanks guys. To be honest, I was actually a little worried there as well. I mean, Jenny's cards were so incredibly strong."

The slifers turned towards the obelisk girls and saw Alexis and the others helping Jenny getting up. Once she was on her feet, she walked towards Andrew. When she was close enough, she stared him with a serious look for a moment, before giving a bright smile and extended her hand.

"That was a great duel. You certainly showed me what you were capable of."

Andrew accepted the handshake and smiled as well. "Thanks. You were really good yourself. I actually thought you had me there a few times." He commented, earning a giggle from Jenny.

"Well, I must say that you are more skilled than I thought." Alexis said

"Hmph, if you ask me, I think he was just lucky with the draw." Jasmine scowled.

Andrew shrugged. "Maybe I was. But there's one thing I learned ever since I started with duel monsters when I was a kid. As a duelist, you need both luck and skills. What cards you get from your deck is luck. How you use them is skill."

"You said it." Jaden replied.

"Anyway, thanks for dueling me. That made good practice for the promotion exam."

"No problem. Just let me know if you need me for something else."

"Yeah, thank you."

* * *

From a distance, an obelisk blue boy was hiding behind the bushes and watched the whole thing. He was growling because of the fact that Jenny was talking to a slifer red student.

"How dare that lowlife scum talk to my beloved Jenny. I'll make sure to get him away from her."

* * *

 **Phew. I'm finally done with my second chapter. And I'm actually ashamed that it took me 5 weeks to write this chapter. not to mention that this one is longer than the first. However, next chapter starts on the day of promotion exam, so writing that chapter will hopefully be easier than this one.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Raring To Go**

It was early morning, and seagulls were sitting in the water peacefully. That is until they noticed a fleet of ships and air planes cruising through the ocean and flew away. It was like they were heading off to war or something.

"Attention all crew members." The captain spoke to his crew. "I know it's been a long journey, with everything we've been through so far. It seems the whole world is trying to infiltrate our defenses, but it's about to all pay off. We're about to reach our final objective and with the pay load safe." The captain was holding a metal briefcase in his hand with Duel Academy's logo on the side. "So full steam ahead men. This is the moment we've been waiting for. The moment Duel Academy gets their new rare cards."

* * *

Meanwhile on Academy Island itself, everything was peaceful. And Jaden and his friends were still sleeping. With the exception of Syrus and Andrew. While Jaden and Chumley slept peacefully, Andrew went out for his usual morning training. As for Syrus, he was sitting at the desk with lit candles and wearing a white headband with three Monster Reborn cards on it. He was praying to a poster of Slifer the Sky Dragon.

"Please, please, please. Please help me ace my exams today. Or I'll be stuck wearing this red blazer forever. Not that there's anything wrong with red of course. It's great on you Slifer. But I want to be in Ra yellow. Please give me a sign that you'll help."

At the moment he finished that sentence, Andrew came in, while drying his hair with a towel. Which means he just got out of the shower.

"Good morning Syrus."

"SLIFER!" The latter jumped out of his seat in fright as he heard Andrew's voice.

"Calm down Syrus. It's just me." Andrew said, trying to calm him down. Although he was also trying to keep himself from laughing at the reaction.

The little blue head turned towards him. "Oh, hey Andrew. How was your training?"

"The same as usual. What were you doing by the way?"

Syrus almost panicked and tried to make a good excuse. "Oh um, I-I was just doing some last minute studying. Yeah that's it. I was just preparing for the exams."

Andrew on the other hand noticed the headband Syrus was wearing and candles standing on the desk. Before he could question him further, the alarm clock suddenly rang. And even if it was in the same bed as Jaden, he was still sleeping.

"And once again, Jaden sleeps through the alarm." Andrew commented.

"No surprise there. I don't know why he's so relaxed when there's so much at stake." Syrus approached the sleeping Slifer and tried to wake him up. "Jaden wake up. If you miss these tests, you'll never advance to the next dorm."

"Wrong!" Jaden smacked Syrus in the face, knocking him to the floor. "Cuz I played a trap!" And yet, he didn't wake up.

"Why can't he ever be dreaming in defense mode when I wake him up?"

 _'Talk about Déjà vu.'_ Andrew thought as he remembered the one time this happened to him.

"Duh, Syrus..." The two boys looked to see Chumley looking down at them, head propped up on his arms. "You shouldn't wake him up at all. Just think about it, after today's written test, we have our field test. And it would be totally lishus for us if Jaden slept right through it. You get what I'm saying?"

"Chumley I never get anything you say."

"Hello? The field test is where they pit class members against each other in a duel. And I don't wanna duel the guy who beat Dr. Crowler. So if we let the competition sleep in, then we have a better chance at passing the exams. You get it?"

"Oh I get it. And I'm starting to get why you were held back two years. Jaden, get out of bed, we're already late. I'll save you a seat. Hurry!" At that Syrus got up and ran out the door.

Andrew shrugged. "I guess it's up to me to wake him up."

* * *

Even as he was running towards the academy's main building, Syrus was still studying. ' _Okay, cram time. Let's see. A normal trap can counter a normal spell. A quick play spell can beat a ritual spell and-'_ His thought were interrupted when he tripped on his shoelaces. "A double knot beats a single knot."

* * *

After Andrew managed to get Jaden out of bed, they were running to get to the classroom and take the test.

"Boy, Chumley sure can cook." Jaden said. "A five course breakfast. Wow."

"Yeah, it was really delicious." Andrew agreed. "Anyway, if we hurry, we should make it in time."

As they ran, they saw a heavy set woman wearing a pink blouse, blue overalls and glasses. And from the looks of it, she was trying to push a van that was probably out of gas. The two boys stopped in their tracks after going by her.

"Wait a minute. Should we be gentlemen or be on time?" Jaden asked.

"Well, you know what I would do if I saw someone who needs help."

"Then let's go." They both ran back to the woman and got behind the van to push. "Never fear, Jaden and Andrew are here."

"Oh thank you. You boys must be from the auto club." The woman said, thankful for the help.

"Don't let the red jackets fool ya. We're just your average good deed guys."

"Yeah, it's our pleasure to help."

"Thank you so much. I'll remember this."

"How about next time you just remember that extended warrant?" Jaden suggested in jest.

* * *

"You have 45 minutes left to finish the test." Professor Banner said to the students, taking the test.

Except for Syrus who were mumbling in sleep. "Which counters a field spell. Which counters…"

"I didn't know this was an oral exam Syrus." The latter woke up by Jaden's voice and saw him and Andrew standing right next to him. "Or maybe next time sleeping would be better than a Slifer seance."

"You guys are here."

"You three want to keep it down?" An annoyed voice asked. They looked in the direction the voice came from, seeing an Obelisk blue boy with spiky black hair glaring at them. That's right, it was Chazz Princeton. "Some of us plan to pass this test."

"Hey, I always plan on passing. It just doesn't always work out that way."

Andrew placed a hand on Jaden's shoulder. "Don't let him bother you. Come on, we need to get our exams."

"Oh yeah. Good idea."

 _' No joke.'_ Alexis thought. _'We're 15 minutes into this thing. They'll be lucky if they manage to finish.'_

 _'Look at him.'_ Bastion thought. _Tardy, puerile, if only he applied himself he could be a great duelist. But I wonder why Andrew is late as well.'_

Jenny looked at them as they made their way to their seats. _'I guess he had some trouble to get Jaden out of bed.'_ She thought, knowing about the latter's sleeping habit.

And so the test continued. But it didn't take long for Jaden and Syrus to fall asleep, again. Andrew shook his head at this.

 _'Well, I understand why Syrus is sleeping. But Jaden. Didn't he get enough sleep already?'_

Unbeknownst to everyone, Dr. Crowler was outside the classroom, peeking through the door.

"You may be able to dream your way through the written exam Jaden. But when your field test starts, believe me, it will be a nightmare."

* * *

When the time limit expired, Banner decided to make his announcement. "All right class. The written exam is over. So please walk, do not run, to get in line for today's new rare cards."

"They're here!?" one of the students asked.

"Oh dear."

As soon as those words left the professor's mouth, a mass mob of students ran out from the classroom. Andrew noticed that the students were in such a hurry, some of them accidentally pushed Jenny, which caused her to fall down. Andrew was about to catch her, but someone else was ahead of him. The person who caught her was an Obelisk blue boy who had short dark green hair and was quite well built.

"I got you my pretty fairy." He said with a flashy grin.

Jenny, who wasn't really fond of him and his behavior, freed herself from his grip. "Um, thanks. I guess. And you are?"

"Oh right. Where are my manners. My name is Norman Johnson. And I've already heard about you. Jenny Siegrain, right? Such a name is fitting for a lovely girl like you. How about you and I hang around for a bit before the field test?"

Andrew seemed to be the only one who noticed how bothered Jenny was. _'That guy is way too straightforward.'_

"Thanks, but no thanks." Jenny replied and went off, making the obelisk boy stare at her dumbfounded. And when she walked towards Andrew, he face faulted. He quickly got up and was unpleased to see Jenny talking to him.

 _'Him again? Why is Jenny more interested in him than me? Just you wait, you slifer scum.'_ He thought as he left the classroom.

"...And that's why me and Jaden were late." Andrew said as he explained to Jenny why he was late.

"Oh. Then you were actually serious about how you like to help other people." Jenny said amused.

Andrew scratched the back of his head smiling. "Like i said, when someone needs help, then I just have to do something about it." He then turned towards the sleeping Slifer duo. "Okay, how about we wake them up?"

"Agreed." Bastion said as he approached them and shook Syrus a bit. "Say, you two may want to give some serious thought to waking up."

Syrus jolted awake and cried with anime tears. "Ahh! I flunked didn't I? I'm a complete failure."

"Sy, if we were graded for melodrama you'd get an A." Jaden said jokingly.

Syrus suddenly realized that he and Jaden along with Bastion, Andrew and Jenny were the only people left. "Hey, where did everyone go?"

"That's what I was trying to tell you." Bastion replied. "The new rare cards arrived and everyone's at the shop."

"What!? New cards!? Hey, how come no-one told us?"

"Because everyone want's the best cards for themselves. To use in the upcoming field test."

"So why aren't you getting some?"

"Please, one errand card and my deck's delicate balance would be completely thrown off."

"I don't think my deck need some improvements either." Jenny added.

"Well my deck would need some improvements."

"Then let's go. There's nothing like the smell of new cards in the morning. Thanks for the tip Bastion." With that said, Jaden and Syrus took off running towards the card shop.

"And what about you Andrew?" Jenny asked the latter, who was thinking for a sec before giving her an answer.

"I think I could use some new cards as well." Andrew said and ran after his roommates. "See ya later. And good luck."

"Yeah, you too."

* * *

Meanwhile, the other students were outside the card shop. They were banging down on the steel door, hoping to get the cards before anybody else.

There were also some guards forming a fence between them for some reason. That reason being the captain approaching them. "Oh children. Looking for these?" He said, referring to the metal suitcase he held up. The crowd burst into cheers. The metal door slid opened a crack. The captain bent down to enter. "Come and get it."

The metal doors opened and the card shop was revealed. The brief case was on the table. There were also two people standing by the brief case. One of them was a counter girl. The other person was a 'mysterious' man wearing a black coat and hat.

The students looked inside the briefcase…

And face faulted when they saw that the brief case was empty.

"Hey, where'd they all go?" One student asked.

"You know the rules, first come first serve." The counter girl.

"And I was first, so I took every one." The man replied.

The students groaned in disappointment and they all left. Unbeknownst to the man, one of those students recognized his voice. Someone who bothered Jenny earlier.

 _'Is that Dr. Crowler? Why would he take all the rare cards for himself? I better check it out.'_

* * *

"Come on guys, let's make tracks." Jaden said as he, Syrus and Andrew arrived at the card shop. But only to find out that there were no-one here.

"Where is everyone?" Andrew asked.

"They couldn't have…" Syrus said

"Run out of cards already!" Both Jaden and Syrus shouted.

"Darn it." Andrew shouted. But then they saw the counter girl.

"Excuse me counter girl. You still have some cards left right?" Jaden asked.

"Of course we have some left. Just regular packs though." She slid one to them "Here you go."

"WE SAID SOME, NOT ONE!"

"I'm done for. I slept through the written test. Now I'm gonna flunk my duel test because I can't upgrade my deck."

"So take the pack Syrus." Jaden offered.

"Really? You'd give me the last pack that they have?"

"It's cool."

"What about you Andrew?"

The latter gave him a reassuring smile. "It's okay. I think I'll be fine without it."

"Are you sure guys? I mean what if you fail?"

"No way Sy. I may flunk now and then, but I never fail." Jaden said.

"That's true." Andrew agreed.

"Yoo hoo. Auto club." Someone called out. Then the slifers saw another person behind the desk. It was the woman Jaden and Andrew helped earlier.

"Oh hey. You work here too?"

"Oh no, I don't work here, I own here. Cool huh?"

"No. That's not cool, that's totally sweet."

"You guys know her?"

"Yeah. She had some problem with her van earlier, so Jaden and I helped her out on our way here."

"Here, I have something for you." The woman spoke up as she reached into the pocket of her apron and pulled out two card packs. She handed one to Andrew and Jaden. "Now I know we're officially out of cards, but I did hide away a few, for young polite students like yourselves. Just call it a thank you for helping me."

"Thanks a lot." Andrew said and was about to leave, but then realized something. "Oh that's right. We didn't catch your name."

"It's Dorothy."

"Well nice to meet you Dorothy. Come on Andrew, Sy. Let's head to the gym."

* * *

Elsewhere in Duel Academy, Chazz was walking through the halls with his Obelisk lackeys. They explained to him about the new rare cards. "And then this guy shows up and takes all the new cards. I mean every one."

"So we couldn't get you any Chazz. Sorry."

"You know what's sorry? You guys, that's what. But it doesn't matter, because not a single duelist here can defeat me no matter what card they carry."

"Unless that duelist happens to be Jaden Yuki." They turned to see a person standing at the top of the stairs.

"Whose there?" Chazz asked.

"Someone who suspects you despise Jaden as much as I do."

"That's the sticky fingers who took the rare cards."

"Cards? What cards? Oh, do you mean these cards?" The person opened up their coat, revealing rows of cards held inside.

"Whoa. Now _that's_ style."

"Talk about having a card up your sleeve."

The man cackled, amused by their responses. "What's the matter Chazz? Don't recognize me? Well, how about now?" He took off his hat to reveal his face.

"Crowler!?"

"You know, you looked better all covered up." Chazz commented, causing the Obelisk headmaster to face fault.

"Yes, well I have a plan that will make us all look better. And make Jaden Yuki look like the cut rate duelist he truly is. I want you to be his opponent for his field test. And to use these rare cards to beat him."

"But we're not in the same dorm. They won't let me be his test opponent."

"They? I am they. I'l make it happen. And you just make sure to use these rare cards to put Jaden in his place in front of the entire academy."

"I hope you don't mind if I intrude your little scheme." A certain green haired Obelisk boy stepped from behind the corner.

"Norman? What are you doing here?" Chazz asked.

"I happened to overhear your conversation. I wish to be a part of your plan."

"How's that going to work? We can't exactly both duel Jaden."

"You can do whatever you want with that punk. I want to take down someone else. Someone who I despises as much you despises Jaden."

"And why should I let you be a part of this?" Crowler asked.

Norman gave him a sly look as he pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and showed everyone a video of their conversation. "Because if you won't, then I'm going to report this to Chancellor Sheppard."

This made Crowler cringe. If Sheppard found out about this, then he would be in serious trouble. There's no way he could let that happen. "Alright. I'll make sure that you get the duel you want. So tell me, who is this student you want to take down so badly?"

Norman grinned evilly, knowing that he can set his own plan in motion.

* * *

The field tests were starting in the gym. Some of the students were waiting for their turn, while other students were dueling on the six dueling fields. And Jaden's duel was about to start. However…

"(gasp) I'm dueling an Obelisk and it's Chazz?"

"That's right Jaden." Crowler confirmed. "Since you talk such a big game, I pulled some strings for you so you got the challenge you deserve. So congratulations, you'll be dueling one of the top ranked students in this school, what an honor! I certainly hope you were able to snag a lot of today's rare cards so that your deck is up to snuff. What's wrong? Aren't you going to thank me?"

 _'I've got a bad feeling about this.'_ Syrus thought.

 _'This is clearly a trap. Only a cavalier fool would agree to it.'_ Bastion thought.

 _'There's no way Jaden would agree to this.'_ Andrew thought.

"I'll do it."

He face palmed at Jaden's answer.

"Alright Chazz, get your game on. Let's finish what we started at Obelisk Arena.

"Indeed." Crowler said indifferently. "And in front of the whole school too, where everyone can watch."

"Yeah, watch you get slammed by me." Chazz added

The duelists inserted their decks into their duel disks.

"Duel!"

 **Jaden: 4000**

 **Chazz: 4000**

"No excuses this time Chazz!"

"Bring it, Slifer Slacker!"

"Oh it is brought." Jaden drew his sixth card.

 _"Coooo."_

"Well, it's my favorite furry friend." Jaden said looking at the Winged Kuriboh card he just drew. ' _Kuriboh, you're in for a treat. We're about to rain down some serious skills on Chazz.'  
_ "You remember this guy, don't you Chazz? From our first match? Elemental HERO Clayman!" Jaden summoned a big human like stone figure with a red head that kneeled down in front of him with its arms crossed. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4) "And he'd like to get reacquainted."

Chazz smirked and chuckled for himself. _'Not after he sees what I got for him.'_  
"Don't think for a second that oversized pile of pebbles has a chance against me, or against this!" He drew a card. _'Appreciate the rare card, Crowler.'  
_ "Fresh off the presses, meet Magical Mallet!"

"What's that?" Jaden asked.

"A redo. All the cards in my hand that I don't want, I put back in my deck. Then I shuffle and redraw. Pretty cool, don't you think?"

"How? A rare card on the first draw?" Syrus gasped.

"And a very dangerous one at that." Bastion explained. "Now Chazz will essentially be able to pick which cards he wants and which cards he doesn't."

"I guess Chazz was lucky enough to get some rare cards from the shop." Andrew added.

"I haven't gotten the best part." Chazz said, redrawing from his deck and showing Magical Mallet again. "You see Jaden, I got to reshuffle Magical Mallet too! So if I draw it again, which I just did, I can play it again and again. And that comes in handy when I'm looking for this! V-Tiger Jet, sharpen your claws for attack mode." A yellow mechanical tiger with green jet wings appeared. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1800 LV: 4)

"And there's a lot more where that came from. Check out the magic of Frontline Base. It lets me summon another level 4 or below monster this turn. And I have just the one, I play W-Wing Catapult in attack mode." The machine that appeared beside the first was a blue jet platform. It had slots to shoot rockets from. ( **ATK: 1300** DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "Gentlemen, start your engines." The two machines flew up. "Now merge!" While the catapult revealed two missile launchers, the tiger landed on top of it. "All right, the VW-Tiger Catapult." ( **ATK: 2000** DEF: 2100 LV: 6) "But wait, I'm not done yet, cuz he still has his special ability."

"That's not good." Jaden commented.

"Give me a break. Is this guy's turn going to end sometime this century?" Syrus asked.

"By sending one card to the graveyard, I can force one of your monsters into attack mode." The card Clayman was kneeling on disappeared as he stood up. "So now after this Heat-Seeker Blitz from my Tiger Catapult, your life points are toast." The Tiger Catapult fired its missiles. Jaden groaned from the smoke produced by Clayman's destruction.

 **Jaden: 4000-2800**

"Ouch, that wasn't fun." Andrew commented.

Crowler saw all this from the special viewing box where he was watching with Chancellor Sheppard. "My goodness. Perhaps Jaden can't play with the big boys after all. I guess he's not as good as everyone thinks."

Sheppard just stared out the window.

"I'll finish up with one card face down." Chazz said as a face down card appeared at his feet.

"Yeah, good ahead and finish up, cuz I'm just getting warmed up. Speaking of, here's a guy who can really turn up the heat, Elemental HERO Sparkman in defense mode!" The electric warrior crossed his arms to protect himself. (ATK: 1600 **DEF: 1400** LV: 4) "And I'll throw down a facedown."

"Not much else he can do with all the rares Chazz seems to have."

"It's just not fair."

"Don't worry Syrus. I'm sure Jaden can pull it off somehow."

Alexis was also watching the duel, along with Jenny. _'This is a complete mismatch. How can Jaden fight back if he doesn't know what he's fighting?'_

 _'There's no_ _doubt that Crowler is hoping to crush Jaden by having him duel a powerful opponent with nothing stacked to his favor.'_ Jenny thought.

"Ready for round two you Slifer Slime? Well X-Head Cannon is." A blue and yellow humanoid machine with a spike ball lower region and two shoulder cannons appeared. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "And thanks to Frontline's magic, so is Z-Metal Tank." A yellow machine shaped like the bottom of a tank also appeared. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1300 LV: 4)

"No way!" Jaden said.

"X and Z? Aw man, that can only mean one thing."

"Now I play my facedown card, Call of the Haunted. And in case you slept through that class as well, it allows me to bring back a monster from my graveyard. And I choose…" A red dragon like machine appeared. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1600 LV: 4)

"No way!"

"It's him."

"He has it."

"That's right, Y-Dragon Head! It's what I discarded with my Catapult's special ability. And now I combine them all to create XYZ-Dragon Cannon." The metal dragon attached itself to the top of the yellow tank. Its wings came off as X-Head cannon landed on top of it. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 2600 LV: 8)

"Now Chazz has two monsters with over 2000 attack points each." Bastion said.

"Which means he could end this duel right now." Andrew said.

"But wait Jaden, there's more" Jaden gasped by hearing what Chazz just said. "Actually less. Sure, they say two is better than one, but I have to disagree. Especially since the one in question is the ultimate V to Z Dragon Catapult Cannon!" Both machines broke apart and merged together to form a giant humanoid machine. It had the tiger's feet and its legs were made of the Winged Catapult. At its waist level stuck out the dragon's head and its body consisted of X-Head Cannon with the two guns sticking from its chest. The arms were from the yellow tank and its head was covered with the tiger's face. Red wings came out of its back and a tail of the same color underneath. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 2800 LV: 8) "Makes your Sparkman look like a heap of spark plugs, or at least it did."

Sparkman disappeared, making the crowd gasp.

"My Sparkman!"

"Oh I'm sorry. Didn't I mention V to Z's special ability? He allows me to remove one card on your field once per turn." He chuckled. "And if you think that's impressive, just wait until you see its attack, an attack that will strike your life points directly."

"Don't think so Chazz, I have a trap. A Hero Emerges."

"Blast!" Crowler cried.

"A Hero what?"

"Emerges, as in to emerges on the field. Cuz now you have to randomly choose a card in my hand and if its a monster, I get to play it. So take your pick, Chazz."

"Yeah yeah, whatever. The far right."

"Sweet! Elemental HERO Burstinatrix. I'll play her in defense mode." The red clad heroine kneeled down with her arms in front of her. (ATK: 1200 **DEF: 800** LV. 3)

"That's what you think, you Slifer Slacker, when Dragon Catapult Cannon attacks, I get to choose your monster's mode. And you know what? I choose attack mode. Which means not only will she be zapped," The machine fired a lightning blast. Busrtinatrix stood up before getting hit by the blast. She cried in pain as she was destroyed. "But your life points will too."

 **Jaden: 2800-1000**

The crowd gasped.

"Aw, what's the matter Jaden? Having some test anxiety?" Chazz taunted. Don't worry, it'll be over soon."

"No way Chazz. I got a whole army of vicious monsters in my deck just waiting to get at you. This isn't over, it's just barely started. My draw!" Jaden drew his card and looked at it. It was one he'd gotten from the pack Dorothy gave him. "What do you think Winged Kuriboh?"

 _"Coo!"_

"Well all right. If you say so. Let's do it. I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode." Just like the name suggests, the monster looked like the original Kuriboh, but with white wings. (ATK: 300 **DEF: 200** LV: 1) Most of the girls in the audience squealed at how cute it was.

And that includes Jenny. "Aww, it looks so cute~."

"And I'll throw down a facedown too." Jaden concluded. "That's it."

"That's it?" Syrus asked. "That's all? But all he's been playing is defense."

 _'I sure hope Jaden knows what he's doing.'_ Alexis thought staring at the slifer wide-eyed.

"All done huh? Good, cuz now I can cook that Kuriboh and I like mine well done. There's about to be a fried fur ball on the field ya loser!"

"You don't scare me Chazz."

"No big deal, that's his job." Chazz said, referring to his mechanical monster. "Dragon Catapult Cannon attack!" As the blast flew towards Jaden, he readied himself for it.

"Once that Kuriboh is gone, Jaden will be completely defenseless." Syrus said.

 _'Alright, secret weapon time.'_  
"I sacrifice two cards and activate Transcendent Wings."

"Where did he get that!?" Crowler cried.

The Kuriboh creature expanded in a flash of light. It was now larger, had golden headpiece shaped like a dragon and wide white wings coming from its side. It used those wings to block the attack.

"Ahh! It can't be!"

"Oh it be. Transcendent Wings has evolved Winged Kuriboh into a level 10 monster. And it gets better too, by sacrificing himself, Kuriboh destroys all monsters in attack mode and deflects their attack points back as damage to you. Kuriboh, why don't you go ahead and show him how it works?" The blast Kurboh blocked was deflected back at the giant machine and it was destroyed, taking a huge amount of Chazz's life points.

 **Chazz: 4000-1000**

"Lucky punk." Chazz said glaring daggers at Jaden.

"Lucky? Nah, I just happen to have a soft spot for old ladies. But not for you Chazz and that's too bad, cuz with a thousand life points apiece and my turn coming up, all I need is the right monster and you'll be finished. Here goes something." He looked at the card he drew and smirked. "Yeah, Elemental HERO Avian." The green hero with feather wings appeared. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1000 LV: 3) "Attack!" He flew towards Chazz and slashed him with his claws, knocking him down to his knees.

 **Chazz: 1000-0000**

"Jaden did it!" Syrus cheered.

"Well played Jaden." Andrew shouted as the crowd cheered as well.

"Impossible!" Crowler cried leaning against the glass. "Not with all the rare cards I gave Chazz, this simply can't be!"

"Rare cards? What exactly are you talking about Crowler?"

Crowler jumped. He had completely forgotten that Sheppard was with him. "Uh… nothing… I… have to go and grade some tests." He quickly walked off.

Sheppard laughed at his back.

Jaden waved at crowd who was cheering for him, and pointed at Chazz. "That's game, unless you want to duel again."

"Oh we will." Chazz hissed.

 _"Andrew Wilson, please come down for your field test."_

"Oh, it's my turn now."

"Good luck."

"Thanks Bastion."

* * *

Andrew went down to the gym floor where Jaden had previously dueled. When he reached the duel field, he was surprised to see an Obelisk blue boy standing on the opposite side. It was none other than Norman.

"Huh? I'm dueling an Obelisk just like Jaden?" Andrew asked, clearly confused by this. "Did I do something to anger Crowler."

The Obelisk boy sneered. "Hmph, This isn't about Crowler punk, it's about me."

Andrew blinked. "Really? What did I ever do to you?"

"I'll tell you what you did. I'm trying to win Jenny's heart. And you are getting in my way." He hissed.

"Huh?" Andrew was even more confused right now.

Jenny wasn't pleased by this. "Not that guy again."

"Someone you know?" Alexis asked.

"Just some guy who asked me out earlier. But he's just weird. Not to mention he invaded my personal space."

Andrew stared at the Obelisk boy for a moment before he snapped his fingers. "Oh, I recognize you. You're that guy who bothered Jenny earlier."

He glared at Andrew. "Hey, my name is Norman Johnson. And you should know that I would never bother my dear Jenny at all. Wherever she goes, I always look after her from a distance to make sure that she won't be taken by scums like you. After all, a man like me knows how to keep a lady safe." He finished with a charming smile and a dramatic pose.

"So basically, you're a stalker." Andrew said with a deadpan.

Norman face faulted but instantly stood up and got into Andrew's face. "Listen here you bastard. Stay away from Jenny. She's too good for a Slifer scum like you."

Andrew was starting to get annoyed by his behavior. "Jenny is my friend, and nobody tells me to stay away from my friends. Especially guys who can't handle the fact that she doesn't like them."

"Then let's settle this issue in our duel."

"Fine, but if I win, you'll leave her alone."

"And _when_ I win, Jenny's mine."

"What!?" Jenny blinked. "Is he serious?"

"Looks like that guy is not going to leave you alone that easily." Alexis said as she shook her head.

Andrew and Norman positioned themselves and activated their duel disks.

"Let's duel!"

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Norman: 4000**

"Since I'm feeling generous today, I'll let you start." Norman said.

"Fine by me. I summon Elemental HERO Shadow Mist in defense mode." The dark armored woman kneeled down in front of Andrew. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1500** LV: 4) "Then I'll play this face down and end my turn." A facedown card appeared.

"What a joke. I'll show you a real move. I summon Goblin Elite Attack Force in attack mode." A group of 4 goblin creatures wearing knight armors appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF: 1500) "Then I play the spell card Double Attack. By discarding a monster card from my hand, I can choose a monster on my field with a lower level than the monster I discarded. Then during this turn, that monster can attack twice this turn. So I discard my level 6 monster Summoned Skull so my goblins can attack twice. Which means my little troop will be able to damage your life points, once they're done with your hero. Now attack." The goblins ran towards Shadow Mist and each one of them slashed her with its sword. "And now you're next."

"I don't think so. I activate the trap card Hero Signal. Since my monster was destroyed in battle, I can summon a level 4 or lower Elemental HERO from my hand or deck. And I summon Elemental HERO Avian in defense mode." The green clad warrior appeared on the field. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1000** LV: 3) "And there's more, since Shadow Mist was sent to the graveyard, I can activate her special ability. I can take a HERO monster from my deck and add it to my hand. I choose Burstinatrix."

"That's just pathetic. The same thing goes for your chicken man since it won't be able to handle my second attack." The goblins slashed Avian with their swords and shattered him into pixels. "And since my goblins attacked, they are forced to defense mode." The goblin knights kneeled down. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Okay, here goes. I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman." The flame headed hero stood tall before Andrew. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "And since he was summoned to the field, I can take Polymerization from my deck and add it to my hand. And now I'll use it fuse my Blazeman with Burstinatrix to form Elemental HERO Nova Master." The two fiery monsters merged to form the red and orange armored hero. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2100 LV: 8) "Now attack his Goblin Elite Attack Force with Burning Sphere Bomb." The warrior created a sphere of fire and threw it at the goblin troop.

"Not so fast! I activate the trap card Bark of Dark Ruler." Once the trap card was revealed, the goblins unleashed a roar that stopped the fire sphere. "When my fiend type monster battles, I can weaken your monster. First I pay some of my life points and then your monster loses that much attack and defense points until the end of this turn. So I give up 1100 points to stop your attack." The fire sphere was eventually extinguished. ( **ATK: 2600-1500** DEF: 2100-1000)

 **Norman: 4000-2900**

"Fine, I end my turn." Andrew said with disappointment in his voice. ( **ATK: 1500-2600** DEF: 1000-2100)

"Good, cuz now I can begin my turn by activating the spell card Allure of Darkness. First I draw 2 cards, then I must take a dark monster from my hand and remove it from play. Next I play the spell Card of Safe Return. Every time a monster is summoned from my graveyard, I get to draw 3 cards. So for my next move I activate the spell card Premature Burial. By paying 800 life points, I can summon a monster from my graveyard."

 **Norman: 2900-2100**

"Now I'll bring back my Summoned Skull." The monster that appeared was a skeleton with dark wings and its organs and flesh inside the bones, rather than outside them. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 1200 LV: 6) "And with him summoned from my graveyard, I can now draw 3 cards thanks to my spell." Norman glanced at the cards he drew and smirked evilly. "And now I play the field spell Yami."

The moment he placed the card in the field spell tray, the field was surrounded by a black mist. The entire field was surrounded by darkness. The only things that could be seen was the duelists themselves and the cards they have on the field. "This field spell increases the strength of all my fiend type monsters by 200 points." Black mist swirled around the two fiend monsters, filling them with dark power. ( **ATK: 2500-2700** DEF: 1200-1400) (ATK: 2200-2400 **DEF: 1500-1700** )

"And to make things more interesting I play the spell Forbidden Chalice. This lets me choose a monster on the field and give it 400 attack points for one turn. And the lucky winner is Goblin Elite Attack Force." A golden cup appeared in front of the goblins. Each one of them took a drink from it and was suddenly surrounded by a faint blue light. (ATK: 2400-2800)

"But since you attacked with them during your last turn, they can't switch battle mode until next turn. So why would you use your spell to increase 'their' strength?" Andrew asked.

Norman chuckled. "Well, this is why you're just a weak scum, and I am superior. Cuz you don't truly understand about strategies. You see, my spell card doesn't just give a monster extra points, it has another effect. Along with the extra attack points it comes with a prize. Or in this case a bonus. Until the end of the turn, my monster's special abilities are negated."

Andrew gasped. "But then…"

"That's right. By negating my goblins' ability, I'll be able to switch their mode right now." The goblins stood up. "And now it's time for some devastation. Summoned Skull, attack his Nova Master with Lightning Strike!" The skeleton monster fired electricity at the armored hero. He was zapped until he was destroyed.

 **Andrew: 4000-3900**

"Now my goblins, attack him directly!" The goblins rushed up to Andrew and swung their swords at him.

 **Andrew: 3900-1100**

"I end my turn with a facedown."

"Okay, here goes." Andrew looked at the card he drew. _'Mirror Force. I can use this to destroy Norman's monsters. But of course, I better play a_ _monster as well, just in case.'_ Andrew took a look at his hand and noticed a certain monster card.

 _"Hn."_

Andrew's eyes widened. _'That's the voice again. I don't know if I'm losing my mind, but something tells me that this card should be placed on the field. Yeah,_ _definitely.'_ "  
First I place one card facedown, then I summon Phantom Magician in defense mode." After the facedown card appeared, the skeleton-like spellcaster kneeled down on the field. (ATK: 600-800 **DEF: 700-900** LV:3) "Now it's your turn."

"Hmph, that's just lame. Now my goblins, destroy his magician!" The goblins ran towards Andrew's monster.

"You triggered my trap card, Mirror Force. This lets me destroy all monsters you have on the field in attack mode." A glass like wall appeared in front of Phantom Magician.

"Not bad, but not good enough to stop me. From my hand I activate the spell card Forbidden Lance." The swords in the goblins' hands were replaced by lances. "Here's how it works, it let's me choose a monster on the field and decrease its attack strength by 800 points." ( **ATK: 2400-1600** ) "But in return, that monster becomes immune to all other spells and traps. Sure, it might take away the extra points from my field spell, but what matters is my goblins are safe from your trap." ( **ATK: 1600-1400** DEF: 1700-1500) The goblins stabbed the glass wall and shattered it to pieces.

"Well, your goblins might be safe, but not your Summoned Skull." The shards flew towards the skeleton monster and pierced through it.

"No biggie, I'll focus on my attack for now." The goblins slashed the magician with their lances.

"You triggered my Phantom Magician's ability. Since he was destroyed in battle, I can summon a HERO monster from my deck with up to 1000 attack points. I choose Elemental HERO Bubbleman." The blue armored water hero with white cape kneeled down on the field. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 1200** LV: 4) "Now when he's summoned and I have no other cards on the field, I'm allowed to draw two cards from my deck." Andrew looked at the cards he drew and smiled.

Norman scoffed. "Drew good cards, eh? Well you won't be able keep them for long. But first things first. I activate the trap card Birthright." He announced as he revealed his facedown card.

"What does that do?"

"This trap card allows me to resurrect any normal monster I have in my graveyard. So welcome back my Summoned Skull." The monster came out of the trap card and landed on the ground. ( **ATK: 2500-2700** DEF: 1200-1400) "And since he was summoned from the grave again, I get to draw 3 more cards thanks to my Card of Safe Return. And now I have Summoned Skull eliminate your bubble boy." It shot another stream of electricity and zapped Bubbleman. "With my battle phase coming to the end, my goblins switches back to defense mode." The goblins kneeled down again.

"It doesn't look good for Andrew." Syrus commented worriedly.

"Indeed. With the combos Norman uses, Andrew is at a disadvantage." Bastion said.

"Nah it's cool. Andrew have been through worse situations than this." Jaden replied. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Allright, since I have a feeling you got some good cards because of your so called hero, I'll force you to get rid of them by activating my Card Destruction spell card. This makes each player to discard their entire hand and draw the same number of cards they got rid of." Norman and Andrew discarded their cards and drew a new hand. "And with that I end my turn."

"Okay, since I have no monsters on my side of the field, I can activate this spell card, A Hero Lives. First I must pay half of my life points…"

 **Andrew: 1100-0550**

"And then I can summon a level 4 or below Elemental HERO from my deck. And I think I summon Elemental HERO Ocean." A blue skinned warrior with a fin on top of his head appeared, wearing bit of whitish armor and holding a two pronged trident in his hands. (ATK: 1500 **DEF: 1200** LV: 4) "And next I summon Elemental HERO Woodsman in defense." The wooden hero appeared beside his aquatic ally. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4) "And now I end my turn."

Norman drew a card and smirked evilly when saw what that card was. "So you think your safe by summoning your monsters in defense mode. Well, I'm afraid you're mistaken. Cuz I'm about to bring out a monster that will be your demise. Observe as I sacrifice my Summoned Skull…" The said monster disappeared. "In order to summon Great Maju Garzett." The new monster was much bigger than Summoned Skull. It was a red skinned beast with thick hair protruding from each pour. ( **ATK: 0** DEF: 0 LV: 6)

"Zero attack points?" Andrew asked.

"It may start with zero points, but since it was tribute summoned, its original attack points becomes equal to twice that the original attack points of the monster I sacrificed. My Summoned Skull had 2500 attack points, so that means Garzett's attack strength becomes…" The fiend snarled fiercely and glowed with a red aura. ( **ATK: 0-5000** )

"5000!?" Syrus exclaimed.

"Whoa, that's not good." Jaden said.

"And don't forget, my field spell is still in play, so my monster grows stronger." ( **ATK: 5000-5200** ) "And I'm about to make him even stronger with the equip spell Big Bang Shot." The monster's right hand was glowing with a blue aura. "Thanks to this card, my monster gets 400 more attack points." ( **ATK: 5200-5600** ) "And this card has another bonus. When Garzett attacks a monster in defense mode whose defense points are less than his attack points, the difference are dealt to you as damage."

"Great Scott. That means Norman can end this duel with one attack." Bastion said.

"And Andrew doesn't have any facedown cards on the field. It's over." Syrus said disbelieved.

Jenny was worried about this. "Andrew."

"Do you understand now? There is nothing that will keep my Jenny away from me. And now it's time to bring down the house. Great Maju Garzett, end this duel." The giant fiend snarled and prepared to swung its arm at Ocean.

"I don't think so!" Andrew exclaimed as a card came out of the graveyard slot and a robotic turtle appeared on the field.

"What's that?" Norman asked.

"It's my Electromagnetic Turtle. If I have this monster in my graveyard, I can remove it from play in order to end your battle phase." The turtle raised its magnet tail and created an electric barrier which stopped the attack.

Norman was growling at this. "Can't you just stand down already?"

"Not gonna happen. I won't stand down until the last life points expires." Andrew replied confidentially.

"Hmph, fine then. I'll just end my turn with a facedown."

"Then it's my turn." Andrew looked at the card he drew and widened his eyes. _'This is the card from the pack I got from Dorothy.'_

* * *

 **Flashback**

While walking through the halls, Jaden and Andrew looked over the cards they got from Dorothy. Andrew noticed one card in particular and looked at it.

"Oh, this one is good."

Jaden got curious and looked at the card Andrew was holding. "Wow. That card is sweet. With right combo, you could win a duel in one round."

"I know, right? I think I'll add this card in my deck. And what about you Jaden?"

The latter grinned and showed him a certain spell card. "Well, I'll stick with this one."

Andrew whistled after getting a good look at the card. "That's not a bad card either. There's no doubt you're going to pass the field test."

"Then let's head to the gym and throw down!"

 **Flashback end**

* * *

Once his mind returned to the present, Andrew smiled confidentially. _'Alright, let's do this.'_  
"First I activate Woodsman's special ability. Now I can take a Polymerization from my deck or graveyard and add it to my hand." The spell card came out of the graveyard slot and Andrew placed it in his hand. "And now I'll use Ocean's ability. During my standby phase, I can choose a HERO monster I have on the field or in my graveyard and return it to my hand. The one I choose is Blazeman."

Norman just smirked. _'It doesn't matter which monster he summons. As long as he plans to use some card ability that would affect my Garzett, I'll be prepared.'_ He thought, referring to his facedown card.

"Next I play the spell card The Warrior Returning Alive. This let's me take back a warrior type monster from my grave and I choose Bubbleman. And now I summon my Blazeman in attack mode." The red armored warrior appeared on the field once again. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1800 LV:4) "And since he was summoned, I can take another Polymerization card from my deck. And I'll use it right away to fuse Woodsman and Ocean."

The two named monsters disappeared into a fusion vortex. "I summon Elemental HERO Terra Firma!" The new monster that came out of the vortex was a tall and muscular man. He was covered in a tough white armor with blue gemstones on his shoulders and forehead, a ruby in the chest piece and spikes at his shoulders and waists. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 2000 LV: 8)

"Wow, that hero is so sweet!" Jaden exclaimed.

"But that monster is not nearly as strong as that giant fiend." Syrus replied

"Andrew must have a good reason to summon that monster." Bastion said.

"And now I'll use my second Polymerization to summon another monster." Andrew announced, causing the crowd to gasp. "I'll fuse my Blazeman and Bubbleman to form a hero of the coldest element." Blazeman and Bubbleman disappeared into another fusion vortex. Then suddenly the vortex unleashed a strong icy wind. "Come forth, Elemental HERO Absolute Zero!" The new monster that landed on the ground was an emerald eyed warrior, wearing a pure white armor and cape. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 2000 LV: 8)

Norman scoffed. "So you summoned two monsters with 2500 attack points. Big deal. My Garzett is still the strongest monster on the field."

"Then allow me to even the odds by using Terra Firma's ability. By sacrificing an Elemental HERO, I can transfer its attack points to him." The two heroes shook hands and nodded. Absolute Zero then changed into light particles which were absorbed by Terra Firma. ( **ATK: 2500-5000** )

"Nice try, but your monster is still a few points short."

"Maybe, but increasing my monster's strength wasn't my only plan." As soon as those words left Andrew's mouth, the spirit of the icy hero appeared.

Norman widened his eyes. "What's going on?"

"This is Absolute Zero's special ability, as soon as he leaves the field, all monsters on the opponent's side of the field are destroyed."

The spirit's glowed with a blue aura and the field was surrounded by an icy wind. The Goblin Elite Attack Force froze solid and then shattered.

"Sweetness!" Jaden cheered. "When Norman's monsters are gone, Andrew can win this."

When icy wind was gone, Andrew thought he managed to destroy all monsters on Norman's field. But to his surprise, Garzett was still on the field. And to make him more confused, the monster was now wearing a white dress.

"What is this?"

Norman chuckled. "Sorry, but I'm afraid your plan failed. And it's all thanks to my spell card." He explained as he pointed the facedown card which was already revealed. "It's called Forbidden Dress. This lets me choose a monster on the field and take away 600 of its attack points and that's what I did to my Garzett. ( **ATK: 5600-5000** ) "And in return, that monster can't be targeted or destroyed by other card effects. So my monster is safe."

"Aw man. Andrew was so close to defeat that thing."

"Indeed." Bastion agreed. "But since both monsters have same attack points, He could have his Terra Firma attack it. Then again, that would leave Andrew wide open and there would be a risk that Norman summons a monster during his next turn.

"No worries guys." Jaden spoke up. "Something tells me that this is the last turn."

"Okay. Since Absolute Zero wasn't able to destroy your Garzett, I'll just attack with my Terra Firma." The named warrior dashed towards the giant fiend.

"What are you thinking?" Norman sled while raising one of his eyebrows. "Both of our monsters has same attack points. So they'll both be destroyed."

Andrew smirked. "That would be case if I didn't have this spell card." He held a card he took from his hand and revealed it. "I play Battle Fusion. Thanks to this my monster gains attack points equal to the attack points of monster he battles with." Terra Firma roared as a blue aura surrounded him. ( **ATK: 5000-10000** )

The crowd gasped at this while Norman's eye bugged out. "WHAAAAAT!?"

The hero smashed the fiend monster and it shattered into pixels.

 **Norman: 2100-0000**

The crowd were silent for a moment before cheering loudly.

"Alright, Andrew did it."

"That was wicked."

"No way… I lost?" Norman said as he fell to his knees.

"That's right. Which means you're not allowed to bother Jenny anymore."

The Obelisk boy suddenly burst into tears. "That's not faiiir!" He got up and left the dueling field.

"Hey, Andrew!" Jaden called out as he, Syrus and Bastion approached him. "That was a sweet duel."

"Thanks. Your duel wasn't so bad either." Andrew said giving Jaden a high five.

"Thats was well played Andrew." It was Chancellor Sheppard, speaking over a loudspeaker. "The same thing goes for you Jaden. Not in the history of our revered academy has a Slifer ever dueled an Obelisk during these exams. Not only did you hold of your own, but you won. Your courage against overwhelming odds is inspiring. It is with great pride that I grant you promotion to Ra yellow. Good job!"

The crowd cheered again.

"Ra yellow? You guys are the best." Syrus complimented.

"I do what I can." Jaden replied with a smile.

"Well, it wasn't easy, but worth it." Andrew agreed as he smiled and scratched the back of his head.

"Good show. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to the Ra dorm." Bastion said while offering a handshake.

"Thanks Bastion." They each said as they shook his hand.

* * *

Later in the Slifer dorm, Syrus, Chumley and Andrew were in their room. Andrew had just finished packing and got up.

"Well, this is it. Time for me to head to my new home." He said.

"Yeah, good luck." Syrus said depressed.

Andrew gave him a concerned look. "What's the matter Syrus?"

"Come on Syrus. If you're gonna mope around, you can at least make me a grilled cheese." Chumley said.

"I just thought Jaden would say goodbye to us. That's all I wanted."

Jaden entered at that moment. "Hey, what's up?"

Syrus was obviously very shocked to see him here. "Jaden?! Why are you here?!"

"I wanted to say congrats on passing your field test. Oh, and in case you've forgotten, I _live_ here!"

"Huh?"

"Sure, Ra yellow is nice with their clean sheets, lack of cockroaches and those spiffy blazers. But without you Syrus, it's just not my home."

"Oh really?" Syrus hugged Jaden, crying on him.

"Come on, you're getting my jacket soaked!"

Syrus looked up, tears still going on. "I thought… I thought I lost you forever! And now I'm never letting go of you!"

"Chill out." Jaden said as he tried to free himself.

"Please Jay! Give me a couple more hugs!"

"It's not the hugs, it's the waterworks."

Andrew and Chumley laughed at the entire ordeal.

* * *

After saying goodbye to his friends, Andrew headed to the Ra yellow dorm. Just as he was about to reach the building, someone approached him. It was Jenny.

"Hey Andrew."

"Hey Jenny. What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to congratulate you for being promoted to Ra yellow." She said with a smile.

"Aw, thank you." Andrew said while smiling back and having his eyes closed.

Jenny then flicked him on his forehead, making him rub it after he felt a slight pain from it. He then looked back at her to see she was now holding a pout.

"However, I've could've done without the stakes your duel had."

Andrew scratched at the back of his head while feeling ashamed.

"Sorry about that. But I noticed earlier how uncomfortable you were when that Obelisk boy talked to you. I couldn't just let him bother you, ignoring the fact that you had no interest in him. A girl like you deserve better than that."

What Andrew just said almost made Jenny blush. She then smiled again.

"Thanks Andrew."

"Don't mention it. Anyway, I should head to the dorm now. See ya tomorrow."

"Yeah, see ya."

With that said, Jenny watched as Andrew walked away.

 _'You're really a nice person Andrew. I'm glad that we became friends.'_

* * *

 **Okay, I thought I could finish this chapter earlier. But I guess I've been lazy. Oh well, what's done is done. I hope you enjoyed it. I would also like to thank Pokemonking0924 for the suggestion to have Norman use a fiend deck. My original plan was to have him use a dragon deck. But after reading that review I thought 'Not a bad idea'. With that said, I think I'll start with the next chapter right away.**


	4. Chapter 4

**The shadow duelists part 1**

It was a dark and gloomy night. The moon hang over Duel Academy, though it was obscured by the clouds that diminished the light that reached the island. In a more remote part of the island within the forest, was an old, creepy and abandoned building. It had broken windows, vines creeping up its walls and other signs that no one had lived in it for a long time. Despite its condition, it still stood from end to end. As lonely as the place was, someone frequently visited ever since she came to the island. That someone was Alexis. And right now she was standing at the front gate and placed a red rose on the ground before it.

 _'Be at peace brother, Wherever you are.'_

* * *

Meanwhile at the Slifer red dorm, Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley were telling ghost stories. Andrew (who by the way was wearing a Ra yellow jacket) was invited as well. They were sitting around a table in the common room. They had a single candle lit on the table as well as a stack of duel monster cards.

"And underneath the moon I see a path leading to a cavern that seems… abandoned." Syrus said taking his turn.

"Oh really?" Jaden asked interested. "Then what?"

"Then at the back of the cavern, I see a mysterious lake. So I go in to look very carefully. And under just the right angle of light, at the very bottom of the lake beyond my reflection, I see a rare and powerful card. Naturally I go to get it. But when I reach out for it… an arm shoot out of the water, grabs me, and begins to pull me into the lake. AAAAAHHHHH! HELP ME! NOT THE WATER, ANYTHING BUT THE WATER!"

Syrus had been so immersed in his story that he had his arms in the air, waving them around as if he was living it out.

"Water's not so scary." Jaden said.

Andrew almost chuckled at this.

"Uhh? Dirty swamp water? Syrus asked before he sighed. "Oh, you're right. Only a chump would be scared of that." He failed to notice Chumley who was standing at the corner, shaking in fear.

"Still, good story," Jaden said picking up a level four monster called Earthbound Spirit. "Mid-level scares for a mid-level card. But me, I hope I get a high-level…" But the card Jaden drew was a level one monster called Sinister Serpent.

"Aww, you lucked out. You hardly have to scare us at all with that low card." Syrus said. Chumley walked back to the table.

"All right. Well, I think I have a story that'll do the trick." Jaden said putting the card down. "Actually it's more like a memory. Back when I was a kid, I used to hear sounds. But I'd only hear them really late at night. I'd think I was dreaming, but then… They sounded like voices, but not ones I recognized. I would go to check it out, but every time I did, there was nothing, nothing there at all. Except my cards."

"And…?"

"And that's the end of the story."

"That's it?" Syrus and Chumley asked with a disappointed tone in their voices.

"Well, at least the story fit the level." Andrew admitted.

"But you want to hear something strange?" Jaden asked. "Lately, I started to hear them again."

"Whoa, really?" Andrew asked. _'Come to think it, I remember hearing a voice during my duel with Jenny. Then I heard it again during the promotion exam.'_

"Yeah, But I'm always wondering why I hear them. Well, I'll probably figure it out someday. Anyway, how about you tell the next story Andrew?"

"Sure, why not?" Andrew replied, as he was about to draw a card. But then...

"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" A laugh came behind from Jaden and Andrew. "Hey, I want to join in on the fright fest."

It was Professor Banner and his cat Pharaoh.

"GYAH!" Syrus and Andrew fell out of their seats. Chumley ran back to the corner. Jaden was the only one on his seat, but wasn't less frightened than the others.

"You just did." Andrew said, getting up.

"Yeah, we're kind of on the edge of our seats here." Jaden added.

"Or at least we were." Syrus added. "But since you're here now, why don't you draw a card? The tougher it is, the scarier your story has to be."

"Oh well that certainly sounds easy enough. Let's see here." Banner drew a card. It was the Five Headed Dragon. A monster with the highest level possible.

"Whoa, that's a level 12 monster." Jaden said.

"Get ready to have nightmares for days." Andrew added.

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna go to bed now." Syrus said.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. What is wrong? Don't you want to hear about the abandoned dorm at the end of the island?"

"Abandoned dorm?" Jaden asked interested.

"Yes. No-one talks about it, but there was once a special dorm set at the edge of the forest. It was shut down after several students mysteriously went missing."

Syrus gulped. "Where did they all go?"

"Well, that's the mystery of it. But the rumor was that it had something to do with shadow games."

"Thanks, you can stop now!" Chumley pleaded from behind another table, still frightened.

"I've heard about shadow games." Andrew spoke up. "As I recall, shadow games are duels played with powerful mystical items."

"Millenium items right?" Jaden almost sounded bored. "I've heard about this, but it's not true."

Banner laughed and adjusted his glasses. "Yes, that is what most people say. But I find that most stories, well they generally have to come from somewhere." Pharaoh meowed. "Well I think that's my cue to get back home." With that said, Banner left.

"Later."

"I think I should get back to my dorm now." Andrew said as he got up.

"But you haven't told us a story yet." Jaden said.

Andrew shrugged. "True, but it's getting late. Maybe some other time. See ya tomorrow."

"Yeah, see ya."

After Andrew left, Syrus decided to tell his friends about something he knew about. "You know, there is this creepy building I saw in the forest once."

"Ah sweet." Jaden said. "Then you can lead the way for us tomorrow night."

"Wait a sec. What do you mean 'us'?" Chumley asked right behind Syrus, startling the latter.

"It will be fun."

"Yeah fun." Chumley said sarcastically.

"Aw man."

* * *

Crowler was outside the room and heard the entire thing. "This is just the opportunity I've been waiting for." He said excitedly. _'I think it's time the shadow games made a comeback. Millennium items and all.'_

* * *

In a dark alley in a city, a duel was about to come to an and. The losing duelist was a bald man wearing black glasses, a t-shirt of the same color, a pair of army pants, a duel disk on his arm and clutched his heart with one hand.

The other man was clad in a black trench coat with a grey belt, a circular hat, and a strange mask over his face. He had a different shaped duel disk on his arm and a chest piece that went with it. In one hand he held a golden pyramid shaped puzzle with an eye on the front.

"Ok ok, you won! Please, just take anything you want and go!" The bald man pleaded.

"What I want, is your soul." His puzzle shone brightly as the masked man talked.

"No please! Show some mercy!"

"Some mercy? What is that?" The gold light turned white as the bald man screamed and fell over, scattering the cards in his deck. "Rest in peace, in the Shadow Realm." Just when he approached the fallen opponent, his cell phone rang. "Speak." The person on the other end of the line spoke briefly. "Duel Academy? Tomorrow Night? I'll be there."

* * *

The next day during class, Jaden and Syrus slept away as Banner gave his class. "The philosophy of dueling went through a second renaissance with the rise of what some historians dub, virtual dueling."

At the same time, Crowler was looking at them through a small opening in the classroom's doors. _'Sleeping yet through another class. But you'll have a make up lesson soon enough. A lesson in the shadow games.'_

* * *

Later that night, Andrew was inside his dorm room, laying on his fairly sized bed. The dorm room also had a desk and drawers for the clothes. It even had a bathroom near the entrance. While laying on the bed, Andrew was thinking about the story Banner told him and his friends.

 _'An abandoned dorm where some students mysteriously disappeared. If it's true that shadow games has something to do with that, then what could have been used to cause that? From what I've heard, the seven_ _millennium items disappeared a few years ago.'_

Andrew thought about it for a couple of minutes before letting out a sigh. "Ah, I need some air." With that said, he went outside the dorm building. He was staring at the sky and was starting to feel calm by its starry beauty. But then he suddenly heard footsteps nearby. He turned to see his Slifer friends walking into the forest.

"Jaden, Syrus and Chumley? What are they doing here?" Andrew asked. But after seeing them enter the forest, he widened his eyes. "Could it be they're trying to find the abandoned dorm? I better follow them to be sure." And so he went after them, while keeping a safe distance between him and the trio.

* * *

Meanwhile, Crowler stood by the lighthouse at the end of the pier when the fearsome masked man walked up to him.

"So you're the one they call the 'shadow duelist'?"

Fog seeped from around him, encircling both men. "My opponents call me many things. Most of which are hard to discern through their shrieks of sheer terror. But enough small talk, what's the job?"

"I want you to frighten someone so intensely, that he leaves this academy and never comes back. Up to the challenge?"

"Of course. I never turn my back to a challenge."

Crowler darts over to the side and the shadow duelist instantly turns to face him. He tried a few more times but the shadow duelist never turned his back toward him. "Oh. My my. You _are_ good."

"I'm better than good. And I'll prove it, not just by scaring this someone…" The man zoomed backward and away as though hovering, the fog followed him. "but by banishing him to the Shadow Realm."

Crowler scoffed. "Well, all right. If you insist."

Unbeknownst to them, someone else was nearby. A dark figure had been watching and listening to the conversation. "A shadow duelist? Hmph, what does he know about shadow games? I'll show them the true terror from the Shadow Realm, not just a bunch of cheap tricks."

* * *

"I mean, you _could_ look at it as being lost," Jaden commented, as he and his friends were wandering in the forest, each carrying a flashlight. Chumley was also wearing a backpack. "or you could just say that we found a couple of places where it's not."

"Yeah well we've been finding places for over an hour now. But I guess it could be worse for Sy."

"For Sy?"

"Yeah, we could be near a lake of dirty swamp water."

"Very funny. But you were the one who refused to take a bath because you were scared of the bath water last night."

"Well if you cleaned it once for a while, it wouldn't look so swampish."

"Maybe if you grew up and started to take showers."

After a while, they eventually arrived in front of an old abandoned building.

"Hey guys, check it out." Jaden pointed his flashlight at a rose on the ground in front of the gate.

"Check out what's behind it." Syrus said

"The abandoned dorm."

"And probably lots of ghosts too."

"Relax guys. There's nobody here." But as soon as those words left Jaden's mouth, they heard a loud snapping sound.

"So what's that?" Syrus and Chumley exclaimed while hugging each other in fright.

Jaden turned around and watched Alexis and Jenny step into his flashlight. "Oh, hi Alexis."

"Alexis? Jenny? What are you two doing here?" Syrus asked, having calmed a little.

"That's funny, we were about to ask you guys the very same thing." Alexis answered.

"We heard about the abandoned dorm and wanted to check it out."

"Well that's not very intelligent." Jenny said.

"I couldn't agree more." A voice spoke up, startling the group. They pointed their flashlights to the direction the voice came from. The owner of that voice turned out to be Andrew.

"Andrew? What brings you here?" Jaden asked.

"I saw you three earlier and decided to see what you were up to. With that said, I think you should head back to _your_ dorm. I mean, do you guys actually want to go in that dorm after hearing the story about the missing students?"

"Come on. Do you actually believe that stuff?"

Alexis looked at Jaden with a frown. "It's true. Believe me I know. Why else would the academy make this place completely forbidden. They catch you and expel you Jaden.

"Yeah sure. Ok, so then why are you here?"

"I have my reasons! That's why!" she replied rather loudly to Jaden's inquiry.

"Whoa Alexis, no need to snap. We just came here to look around. But hey, we'll stay out of your way. Don't worry about it."

Alexis turned around and walked a short distance away. "Look, it's just that…"

"It's just what?" Syrus asked.

"One of the kids who disappeared here… was my brother." Jenny placed an arm around her friend's shoulder to comfort her.

Jaden looked away and stared at the rose on the ground. _'Oh, that explains the rose.'_

He looked back to see her and Jenny walk away.

"If Alexis' brother disappeared, then the rumors aren't just rumors. I say we go back Jaden."

"Yeah? Well I say we go in."

"What!?"

"You can't be serious." Andrew said.

But Jaden ignored what he said and went towards the building along with Chumley. "See you later, you guys! Don't disappear on us!"

"Disappear? Oh wait up." Syrus ran after them.

Andrew sighed. "I can't just leave them alone." And so, he went after them.

The Obelisk girls watched as the boys went inside the building. "I hope they know what they're doing."

"Don't worry Alexis. They'll be fine." Jenny tried to reassure her. At that moment, a tall man appeared right behind Alexis. Just as Jenny tried to warn her friend, another person knocked her out from behind. Both girls lost consciousness.

The man frowned as he looked at the other figure. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

The person was wearing a gray cloak, with the hood over their head, so he couldn't tell how they looked like. But one thing he noticed was that the stranger's hands had purple scales. The figure was wearing a black glove on the right hand with a strange insignia inscribed on it.

"Who I am doesn't matter. You're lucky that I have no time to show you that the Shadow Realm is more than a couple of tricks." The figure said with a deep voice which would make anyone assume that the he was a man.

The masked man stood stunned by the figure's words. "H-how did you?"

"Unlike you I am the real deal. A real shadow duelist with true shadow powers, and not some pathetic party tricks. But luckily for you, I'm planning to have some fun with the one wearing yellow jacket. So I'll let you have the brown haired kid for your plans. But if you get in my way, then I'll show you how it's really like to be trapped in the Shadow Realm." And so, the man faded into the shadows along with Jenny.

* * *

The boys were now inside the abandoned dorm, exploring around. It was more run down inside than outside; looked like an inside storm hit the rooms and halls.

"This place is sweet!" Jaden exclaimed. "You know, a little paint, a couple of cardboard boxes, maybe a throw rug and we could so totally move in here."

"What? Are you kidding?" Syrus asked. "This is even worse than the Slifer dorm. I mean, what's all the stuffs on the walls?" He pointed his light to nearby wall. On it, was a large amount of symbols and letters carved or painted on.

"Do you think it has something to do with the shadow games?" Chumley asked.

"Jaden don't stand so close! Are you nuts?"

But Jaden ignored Syrus as he was examining the wall showing certain items. "Hey. I think it shows the seven millennium items." He then turned his flashlight towards another wall, on which was a picture of a handsome boy with brown hair and an Obelisk blue blazer. "And that shows someone I've never seen before."

As Jaden was examining the picture, Andrew stood in front of the wall showing the millennium items. He moved his hand along the tablet, looking closely at all the details. But then the wall rotated itself. It happened so suddenly that Andrew didn't react in time and so he was on the other side of the wall.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Andrew? What happened?" Jaden asked from the other side.

"I was just looking at the millennium item drawings when the wall just turned on itself and now I'm stuck on the other side."

"Try pushing on your left and we'll push on the other side." Andrew placed his shoulder on his end of the rotating wall and pushed while the Slifer trio did the same from the other side.

* * *

In another part of the dorm, Alexis woke up in a coffin with her wrists and ankles tied together.

"Where am I?" She wondered.

Then she suddenly heard a sinister laughter. "On a hook, dangling, baiting your friends into my trap."

"Jaden…" She gasped. Then she saw a golden eye flash in front of her.

* * *

Jaden and the others were still trying to get Andrew out of the other side of the wall. But then...

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

"That sounded like Alexis." Syrus exclaimed.

"Jaden! You guys can go and save her. I'll find a way out of here."

"Are you sure Andrew?"

"Yes. Now go!"

Following Andrew's request, they all ran in the direction that they'd hear the scream. They ran into another room where they spotted an object on the floor. When they got close, they could tell that it was a duel monster card. Jaden picked it up and saw it was a monster card with the name Etoile Cyber. "This is Alexis' card."

"Well there's only one way that she could have gone." Chumley pointed in the direction of a tunnel that looked like one from a mine.

"Then that's the way we're going."

They ran down the tunnel, shouting Alexis' name in the hope that she would hear them. They eventually got to a wide open circular space that had strange lines on the rock floor and walls. An eerie fog was spread across most of the floor. Opposite of them, was Alexis, except she was in a coffin propped against the wall.

"Alexis!"

An unknown voice spoke from the fog. "HAHAHAHAHA. She can't hear you. She's far away, locked in the Shadow Realm."

"Who's there?"

The masked man rose up from the fog. "Your worst nightmare come true."

"Oh gimme a break." Jaden said.

"Then let me prove it to you… in a shadow game."

"We gotta get Alexis back." Syrus said.

"Yeah! Hand her over right now or you'll be sorry."

"The only way I will free her, is if you beat me in a shadow game."

"He's not looking at me is he?" Chumley asked.

"Look I'm not afraid of dueling you, but shadow games don't exist."

"The others didn't believe in the shadow games either, but they were soon convinced. For you see, when you lose in a shadow game, you don't just pay with your life points, you pay with your soul."

"So you're the one behind all those disappearances. Well you're not getting us, especially Alexis."

"Unless you win, she'll be mine forever and so will you."

Jaden turned to see Chumley holding a duel disk he had taken out from his backpack and then placed it onto his arm.

"Alright, get your game on."

A part of the man's arm extended to form a duel disk. "Shadow Game that is."

Jaden inserted his deck into his own duel disk. "Just hang on Alexis. I'll get you out."

"Duel!"

 **Jaden: 4000**

 **Shadow duelist: 4000**

After both duelists grabbed their opening hands, the shadow duelist drew his sixth card. "Prepare you fool to enter into… the shadows. I summon Infernalqueen Archfiend in attack mode." A monster with blue hair, beige claws, wings and horns appeared on the field, screeching. It was decked in a purple robe and its torso was covered in strange red and beige armor. ( **ATK: 900** DEF: 1500 LV: 4)

"An Archfiend monster?"

"Yes and now that this card's out, each and every monster with 'Archfiend' in its name gains one thousand attack points."

This made Chumley and Syrus worried. "Careful Jaden."

The Infernalqueen glowed purple as it powered itself. ( **ATK: 900-1900** )

"Uh yeah, actually, I already knew that. And I also know that to keep those archfiends on the field, you gotta pay life points during every standby phase of your turn."

"Hmhmhm. No I don't. Not after activating the spell card Pandemonium." As he inserted the named card his duel disk, it started to shine so brightly that Jaden and the others covered their eyes. When they opened their eyes, the room was replaced by a chamber with bone statues of horrid monsters, bone-laced walls and a lava pool in the middle of the field.

"Pretty cool." Jaden commented.

"And it doesn't just change the scenery, it changes the rules. Now I don't have to pay any life points for my Archfiends and if they're ever destroyed outside of a battle, I get to put another fiend right into my hand. I know what you're thinking, your little friend is all but sealed. Well you're right." Alexis' coffin closed itself and sunk into the ground.

"Alexis!"

"That's not fair."

"Yeah! What have you done?"

The man scowled at Jaden's friends. "The same thing I will do to the both of you, should you continue to pester and annoy me."

"Hey! Just leave my friends out of this. My draw." Jaden drew and looked over his hand. _'I don't have any card that can go up against 1900 attack points. But maybe…'_  
"Elemental HERO Avian, I summon you out in attack mode." The winged green hero appeared, ready to fight. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1000 LV: 3) "And I'm gonna throw down two face downs as well."

"Too bad you won't have a chance to use them. I summon Terrorking Archfiend in attack mode." A muscular red and beige fiend with wings appeared beside the first with electricity sparking around its body. It also had a red king's crown on his head. ( **ATK: 2000** DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "Now you have two vicious Archfiends to contend with. And thanks to the special ability of the Infernalqueen, the Terrorking's attack points automatically increases by a thousand, making him an even more fiendish force to be reckoned with." More purple aura surrounded the Infernalqueen, which spread to the other Archfiend monster. ( **ATK: 2000-3000** )

"3000 attack points!?"

"That's right! And now I'm going to put them all to use. Terrorking Archfiend, attack Avian. Locust Storm Barrage." The Archfiend's chest opened up into a vortex and a swarm of locusts flew out of it, heading straight to Avian.

"No way. You forgot about my facedown card, Mirror Gate." A blueish white light appeared in front of Avian, pulsating outward like water with a rock dropped into it. "This trap card causes our monsters to trade places. My Avian for your Terrorking. So now all those 3000 attack points are gonna be going to work for me."

The shadow duelist simply smiled at this. "You really thought you could bait me into a trap? Look around you and tell me who's trapped."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean your trap won't work against my Terrorking. It simply activates his special ability. An ability that will determine our monsters' fate by a way of chance." Six different colored balls with numbers rose from the lava pool and arranged themselves in a circle next to the shadow duelist's head. "You see, when he's targeted by an opponent's effect, Terrorking's special ability gives me a gambling chance. A number between one and six is selected at random. And if it happens to be a two or a five, then your trap's destroyed and my archfiend stays to fight on my side. So, let's spin the wheel of fate and see what happens shall we?" One of the balls was surrounded by fire which moved around the circle.

"It's okay. The odds are way in Jaden's favor."

"You flunked math Chumley."

"No. I got a 54."

When the fire stopped, it had landed on the two. "It seems as though chance has favored the Terrorking Archfiend. Mirror Gate is shattered." The light around Avian broke apart. "Locust Storm Barrage, finish him!" Avian howled in pain as the locusts covered every part of his body, tearing at him at a feeding frenzy before exploding into a puff of smoke.

 **Jaden: 4000-2000**

"Well that stinks. But at least it activates my other trap. Hero Signal." A beam of light appeared from Jaden's trap that shone an 'H' on the ceiling. "When my monster is destroyed in battle, this trap card allows me to automatically summon a monster from my deck or my hand with 'Elemental HERO' in its name. And I summon Elemental HERO Clayman in defense mode." The stone hero crouched down in front of Jaden. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4)

"Way to duel!"

"That Clayman should keep Jaden safe."

"I don't think so. At least not from this." The shadow duelist pulled his pyramid shaped puzzle from his. Light shone from it as it dangled from his hand. "Now the shadow game has truly begun. Don't your life points seem so utterly insignificant now when it's your very life that's at risk?"

"Jaden!"

"No!"

Jaden looked down and saw that a part of his arms and chest were gone, as if someone had dragged an eraser across him. "Hey! My arm."

"Hmhmhm. It is the way of the shadows, transcending the game, attacking your body."

Jaden frowned and tried to reposition himself but couldn't. He looked down and tried to move his legs, but was unable to. "Ah. Hey, I can't move my feet."

"Of course not. As the shadow fog rolls past, you all will feel the darkness take into its grasp, completely."

Chumley and Syrus began to cough and their hands went to their throats as the fog came around them. "The air… getting tough to breath." Chumley said

"You are at the mercy of the night now."

"I can't feel anything." Syrus said.

"Treasure the numbness, for it will not last. Soon you will be drawn into an infinite chasm of eternal darkness where every waking moment will be filled with-"

"Oh gimme a break." Jaden interrupted. "How bad can it be? So what? Back at our dorm we got blackout curtains so we can sleep in later. I'm not scared at the dark. It's great."

"But your black out curtains do not wield the same kind mystic power as my millennium item does. It's your move. But make it count. It maybe your last."

 _'Wow. Millennium items, a shadow fog. Who could ask for a better challenge.'_ Jaden thought, smiling slightly.

The shadow duelist frowned at him. _'What's he smiling about?'_

"Alright Jaden. Get your game on."  
"Here goes buddy. For my move I play the spell card Pot of Greed." And so, Jaden drew two cards. "And I'll fuse this Elemental HERO Sparkman with Clayman on the field." Sparkman leapt into the air, quickly joined by Clayman and the two of them swirled together to form a new monster thanks to Polymerization. "Now say hello to Elemental HERO Thunder Giant." A fork of lightning struck on the ground, from which rose a new monster. A huge man in purple and yellow armor, arcs of electricity sparking about him. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 1500 LV: 6)  
"And now I'll use his special ability which allows me to destroy a monster whose original attack points are lower than his. Now Thunder Giant let loose Static Blast!" A stream of electricity erupted from the palm of his hand and flew towards Terrorking.

But before the attack reached the target, the masked man chuckled.

"Uh oh."

"I activate Terrorking's special ability once again, Spin Roulette." He declared as a fireball on the set of colored balls next to him.

"Oh no, it just can't land on a two or a five again." But Syrus couldn't be more wrong, because when the fire stopped, it was on a five.

"Hahahahahaha. I win again. It seems as though even fate isn't on your side half the time. And now you will pay the price."

The blast of electricity turned around and struck the monster from where it came from. "This stinks. Talk about a run of some really rotten luck."

"Jaden."

 _'This is totally anti-lishus. No matter what Jaden does, that shadow duelist's Archfiend deck can use that Roulette to save himself, and this choking dark fog isn't exactly helping much either. I mean, Jaden first came here to save Alexis, but it looks like he might not be able to save himself.'_

"Your destiny is set. Soon my Archfiend deck will finish off all your monsters. And my millennium item will finish off your soul."

"This match isn't over yet. Iv'e still got a few cards up in my sleeve. Like this one, Mirage of Nightmare. And I'll throw down a couple of facedowns while I'm at it."

"Don't waste my time. Your life points won't last long enough for you to use anymore of your cards. Alexis' soul will soon be gone and so will yours. It's my turn."

"Hold on. I think you're forgetting something. Mirage lets me draw until I have four cards in my hand." With his empty hand, Jaden drew the full four.

"So go ahead. You could have four million and it wouldn't defend you against the crushing power of my monsters. Allow my Terrorking Archfiend to give you an example. Attack with Locust Storm Barrage." The archfiend's rib cage split open once again to shoot out a swarm of locusts.

"Talk about butterflies in your stomach. Good thing I played a trap card. Mirror Force. Say goodbye to all your monsters in attack mode."

"Totally lishus." Chumley pumped his arm. "If Jaden keeps this up, we can finally get out of here. And with Alexis too." A glass like wall materialized in front of Jaden. The locusts slammed into it and bounced back in flames that wiped out the two archfiends.

"How dare you!?"

"How. Cuz I'm daring I guess."

"Well let's how daring you are after this. I'm using Desrook Archfiend's special effect. It allows me to resurrect Terrorking Archfiend by sending this card to the graveyard" He said as he discarded a card from his hand. "Say hello to a not so old friend." The named monster appeared on the field once again, though without the extra attack points. ( **ATK: 2000** DEF: 1500 LV: 4)

"Him again?"

"And now I activate the effect of the field spell card Pandemonium. Its powerful magic allows me to draw a new archfiend, if one of my Archfiend monsters is ever sent to the graveyard by an effect. Of course this new Archfiend can't be as powerful, but then my Terrorking Arcfiend is already packing more than enough power as it is. Now let's try this again. Locust Storm Barrage!" Again the Terrorking's rib cage opened to let loose a storm of locusts.

"Will this storm ever let up?" Chumley asked.

"Go Emergency Provisions! This spell card allows me to sacrifice another spell or trap card and give back a thousand life points for each one. So I choose my Mirage of Nightmare card."

 **Jaden: 2000-3000**

Jaden put his duel disk in front of him before the locust swarm made contact.

 **Jaden: 3000-1000**

"You still stand?"

"As long as Iv'e got two good legs."

"But your legs are not good. And now with this latest strike on your life points, neither are your arms." More parts of Jaden faded as the millennium item shone.

"Aww man. Jaden is fading really fast."

 _'Talk about hanging on by a limb. Better make this turn count.'_  
Alright. I use the spell card The Warrior Returning Alive, which brings back Elemental HERO Avian. Now fuse with Burstinatrix and create the Elemental HERO Flame wingman." The green and red heroes merged and in their place was Jaden's headliner; A green skinned man with only one white feathered wing on his back, a red tail and his right arm being a red dragon head. ( **ATK: 2100** DEF: 1200 LV: 6) "Now what do you say we turn up the heat in here wingman? Attack with Infernal Rage." The Flame Wingman burned the archfiend by shooting fire from his dragon shaped arm. "Oh by the way, did I mention his super power? Your monster won't be the only one hurting, you will too. You take damage equal to your destroyed monster's attack points."

Electricity sparked from the shadow duelist's gear as he felt the pain of the battle and effect damage.

 **Shadow duelist: 4000-1900**

After taking the damage, parts of his body disappeared. "Parts of him are starting to disappear now too Chumley."

"You think that could work on my waist line?"

"It matters not. Because I have yet another Desrook Archfiend. I simply discard him to bring back my Terrorking. There's no escaping him. Rise again Terrorking." the muscular Archfiend monster appeared once again from the graveyard. ( **ATK: 2000** DEF: 1500 LV: 4)

"This guy's really overstaying his welcome. Iv'e gotta find a way to get rid of him somehow. But first I'm gonna protect myself with Dark Catapulter." A gray and purple machine monster kneeled down in front of Jaden. It had a snake like neck., a red half orb on its forehead and what looked like antlers on its shoulders. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1500** LV: 4) "Now come on and do your worst."

"You want my worst? You should be careful what you wish for. Because you just might get it. Especially when this card is in the midst. I sacrifice my Terrorking Archfiend and call forth the Skull Archfiend of Lightning." The Terrorking was replaced by another Archfiend monster, with bolts of electricity crackling over every part of its body. It looked like Summoned Skull, but darker and more terrifying. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 1200 LV: 6)

"You wanted my worst? Well now you have it. Every last supercharged volt." The new archfiend hurled forward a stream of lightning which destroyed Jaden's hero.

 **Jaden: 1000-0600**

"Aw man."

"Jaden!"

 _'I gotta hang on… for Alexis.'_

"Look into my millennium item and feel yourself drifting even further into the shadows." The shadow duelist said, trying to lull Jaden into unconsciousness as his millennium item shone. "You are defeated, your life points are all but gone. Soon you will be nothing but a hollow soulless shell. Feel yourself drifting… drifting… drifting."

 _'I-I can't see anymore. What's happening to me?'_ Jaden fell to one knee, feeling too weak to stand.

"He can't even stand up."

"Jaden!"

 _'Hehehe. Look at him suffering.'_ The masked man. _'The shadows are a powerful indeed. Even the ones simply in your mind. If only he knew.'_

Jaden was down on the floor and couldn't see anything but the shadows surrounding him. But then, hid deck glowed and a ball of light formed and flew around him.

 _"Coo!"_

Jaden looked up to the ball of light.

 _'Hey. Is that you Winged Kuriboh? What is it pal? Are you trying to tell me something? Whoa stay steady would ya? With that bright light you're gonna hypnotize me quicker than help me.'_

Jaden suddenly woke up as he figured out what his furry friend was trying to say. _'Wait. That's it. That's what you were trying to tell me. We're not playing in the shadows, he's playing with my mind.'_ Jaden stood up. "Well no more. I got this shadow game scam figured out."

"Did he just say 'shadow game scam'?" Chumley asked.

"What's he mean?" Syrus added.

"I mean, my soul is not on the serving plate anymore. Let's keep going."

This was definitely not what the shadow duelist expected. _'What's happening? Why isn't he scared anymore?'_

"My turn." A small ball of light appeared on Catapulter's forehead as Jaden drew his card. "First I'm gonna activate Dark Catapulter's special ability. It allows me to remove one card from my graveyard, for every turn Catapulter was in defense mode. Then for every card removed, I get to destroy one trap or spell card out in play. So seeing as he's been in defense mode for one turn, I'll remove Avian and now I'll destroy your Pandemonium card. Storm Shower Blast." A ball of energy formed between Catapulter's antlers and speed towards the masked man.

"Uh oh." Before the blast hit him, the shadow duelist held up his duel disk to shield himself, and this caused the field to crumble and resume its original appearance and without the fog.

"So what? You still haven't destroyed this." He held up his millennium item.

"You gotta be careful what you wish for. You might just get it." Jaden flicked his Avian card which flew towards the shadow duelist and stuck into the puzzle.

"What did you do!?"

With that done, Jaden's body reverted to normal.

"Alright Jaden. You got your body back." Syrus shouted happily.

"I never lost it . This whole shadow game was just a big fake. It was all just hypnosis. A whole lot of smoke and mirrors to make me think I was losing my soul. This guy is a complete sham. I mean, he's probably just some out of work carnie."

"I'm not out of work." The man protested. "I can get my job at the fair back anytime I want!"

"Yeah, I'm sure that you could. And I'm sure that paper mache millennium item goes over real well with the kiddies." Jaden added.

"No, be quiet! It's real. _I'm_ real."

"You're a sideshow phony."

"You fool you forget…"

"Huh?"

The shadow duelist smirked. "The girl."

"Alexis?" Chumley asked.

"Hehehe. That's right, imprisoned in a shadow tomb, her soul festering in the dark recesses of the Netherworld. That proves that my Millennium Pendant is real!" He cried triumphantly, holding up his cracked item. "What do have to say to that?"

Chumley and Syrus looked at each other with worried looks.

Jaden on the other hand smirked. "Besides that you're a big dunce?"

"Huh?"

"See, all the Millennium items were scotched on the inside of this dorm. And yours would be called Millennium Puzzle, not 'Pendant'."

The masked man started to sweat.

"You don't have Alexis' soul. You never did. So hand her over and hand all the other kids you snatched."

"Other kids? I don't know what you're talking about. And because of your earlier carnie comment, you can find your friend by yourself." He threw a ball on the ground which exploded into smoke.

"No way! You're not getting outta here that easy. Come here!" Jaden rushed into the smoke. But what he didn't notice was that spheres of light appeared in the mouths of the snake statues carved in the walls around them. It then flowed into the middle of the room, dispelling the smoke, monster and creating an eye on the floor like those on the Millennium items.

"Whoa! How'd you do this trick?"

"I didn't."

All of a suuden, A bunch of dark smoke appeared swirling around and quickly covered the two duelists. The smoke was then replaced by a sphere of darkness, crackling with energy.

"Jaden!" Syrus called out to his friend.

* * *

 _Inside the sphere_

The two duelists could see themselves clearly. All around them, there was only a strange darkness as far as their eyes could see.

"What is this place? Where am I?" The shadow duelist asked, completely confused.

"Come on! Enough tricks already."

"A trick? I can't do something like this."

Then from out of nowhere, a mass of black blobs appeared. Many of them swarmed the masked man.

"Help! They're attacking. Jaden save me-" a blob launched itself into his mouth, muffling his scream.

"What in the-" Jaden looked and saw that he was surrounded by the same kind of creatures. He then heard a voice coming from his duel disk. He looked down at his deck and was surprised to see Winged Kuriboh squeezing its way out. "Now that's weird. First I hear you, now I see you. What in the world's going on here?"

 _"Coo."_ Winged Kuriboh flew down and shooed the blobs away.

"Hey, way to show them who's boss Kuriboh."

Some of the other blobs swarming the archfiend duelist dived into his mouth.

"Too bad he doesn't have a friend like you."

When the blobs stopped, the masked man's eyes glowed red. "Jaden Yuki." He spoke up in a more sinister voice. "The shadows pang for a soul. Only one shall survive."

"Oh come on now! Red contacts? You've really went overboard setting up for this huh."

"This duel shall now continue in the Shadow Realm." The blobs dispersed to form a circle around the duelists and their monsters reappeared.

 **Jaden: 0600**

 **Shadow duelist: 1900**

"So your sticking with the Shadow Realm thing. Fine, at least we get to finish our match. I play the spell card Monster Reincarnation. Now by discarding one card, one of my graveyard monsters comes back. And I choose everybody's favorite golden boy Sparkman. You remember him, don't ya?" The blue and gold hero kneeled beside Jaden's other monster. (ATK: 1600 **DEF: 1400** LV: 4)

"Very well. My turn."

"But don't forget Mr. Tall, Dark and Scary, without your Pandemonium field card, having an archfiend out costs you 500 life points per turn." As Jaden said this, smoke came out of the shadow duelist's mouth because of the life point loss.

 **Shadow duelist: 1900-1400**

"500 life points is nothing compared to a soul. Skull Archfiend Attack!" The skeleton like archfiend let out a torrent of electricity that struck Dark Catapulter directly, blowing it to bits. Jaden nearly felt the bits fall on him as he guarded with his duel disk.

"Whoa! You're really pulling out all these stuffs, don't ya?"

"I now place one card facedown and summon the Desrook Archfiend in attack mode to end my turn." A new Archfiend appeared alongside the other. It was made of bone and red flesh and looked like a small tower, also a face was grinning right at Jaden. ( **ATK: 1100** DEF: 1900 LV: 4)

 _"Coo."_ Kuriboh looked at Jaden who smiled.

"Don't you worry Kuriboh. I'm totally still in this duel. Here goes." He looked at the card he drew. _'They say the best defense is a good offense. But what's cool about this card, is that it can let me have both'_  
"Sparkman, I'm putting you in attack mode." The electric hero rose from its crouching position. "And arming you with the spell card Spark blaster." A rectangular gun appeared in Sparkman's hand. "It has three blasts and lets me change the battle mode of any monster on the field for each of them. And I think I know just the monster to use it on first "

"So be it. Change the battle mode of my Skull Archfiend. His 1200 defense points should make for easy conquest, unless the Roulette negates your effect again."

"Sorry, but that's not the monster I was talking about. In fact my Sparkman's not gonna even use that blaster yet. He's attacking your Desrook Archfiend with Static Shockwave." Sparkman shot a blast of electricity from his free hand at the smaller fiend.

 **Shadow Duelist: 1400-0900**

"Oh and as for who I'm gonna use this Spark Blaster on, the Sparkman himself. From offense, to defense." The hero aimed his weapon at his feet and fired it, causing him to kneel down.

"Coward. First you have your Sparkman attack my life points and then you have him switch to protect your own. but it matters not. Nothing can protect you from this, the trap card Batlle-Scarred. With it, the 500 life point per turn cost of my Skull Archfiend of Lightning affects not only me, but you too. And for as long as he's out on the field."

 **Jaden: 0600-0100**

 **Shadow duelist: 0900-0400**

"This is bad. I won't be able to last another turn."

 _"Coo."_ Kuriboh was still keeping the blobs at bay.

"Don't worry Kuriboh. It's all good. We've still got Sparkman."

"Wrong! Skull Archfiend, destroy that peon. Blast Stream of Fury." Another blast of destroyed Jaden's only monster. "Next I place a facedown card and activate the spell card Double Spell. Now, by simply discarding one of the spell cards in my hand, I'm allowed to use one of the spell cards from your graveyard. And I select Emergency Provisions. Now I sacrifice one meaningless card and regain a total of one thousand life points."

 **Shadow duelist: 0400-1400**

"Your fate is sealed. You have not a single card remaining in your hand. Battle-Scarred will take your last life points next turn. Then you'll join the rest of the students I've taken. In the Shadow Realm."

Jaden looked down at the of slime creatures as Kuriboh fended them off. Better make this turn count. Cuz one way or another, it'll be my last. Here I come. I summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman in attack mode." The blue armored, white caped hero appeared. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Now, Bubbleman would just burst if he's left alone. So if he's the last card in my hand when I summon him, I'm allowed to summon another monster. And there's more, if he's the only on the field when he's summoned, I get to draw two more cards. And what do you know? I drew his favorite Bubble Shuffle. Actually, it's more of a two step See, it works like this. I switch him and one of your monsters to defense mode, then I sacrifice Bubbleman and summon a hero."

"If my Skull of Archfiend's counter effect does not render your spell card useless that is. If this roulette lands on a one, three or six, your Bubble Shuffle fails to activate." The fireball spun around the numbered balls.

"Ah, I've had bad luck with this thing." But luckily for Jaden, the fireball stopped and landed on...

"Two!?" The shadow duelist grunted.

"All right. Finally I win." Both monsters on the field kneeled down. "Now let's give a big Shadow Realm welcome to Elemental HERO Bladedge." Jaden's Bubbleman disappeared and was replaced by tall hero covered completely in golden armor with blades attached to his arms and yet wings on his back. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 1800 LV: 7) "I know what you're thinking, he looks pretty sharp. Well you're right. So sharp, that when he cuts though your defending monster, all extra attack points go to you. Now HERO Bladedge, show him how you got your name. Slice and Dice attack." The new hero dashed towards the crouched archfiend and passed though it. Cracks formed over it before exploding.

 **Shadow duelist: 1400-0000**

"NOOOOOOO!" The shadow duelist screamed as he was once again, attacked by the blobs. He slowly began to sink into the floor and was nearly gone from sight when he began to fight back, head barley above the horde of blobs. "Get them off of me! Tell my kids… I love them…"

Jaden could only watch as the masked man disappeared along with the blobs. "Wow. Now those are some sweet special effects. So realistic."

 _"Coo."_ Jaden looked at his furry friend and saw an opening in the darkness. "Huh? Think that's an exit? Well, good enough for me. Let's make tracks."

* * *

 _Outside the sphere_

Jaden, along with Kuriboh dived out of the crack.

"Jaden!" Syrus called out as and Chumley approached him.

"You okay?"

"Never better guys."

"What happened in there?" As soon as Chumley asked his question, the sphere of darkness started to implode itself. The process caused a huge wind to kick up almost blowing the coffin Alexis was in away. As the other held on for dear life, Jaden struggled to hold the coffin and Alexis down until the sphere burst onto particles.

Jaden stood up and clapped. "Awesome! I wonder what he does for an encore. Talk about a magic trick. There were little monsters and vortexes and…"

"Magic trick?" Syrus interrupted. "You don't think that was the real Shadow Realm?"

"Nah, it's all mirrors and fog machines, just like I said." Jaden scratched his head. "But I'd give my entire deck to know exactly how he did it. I've never seen anything like it."

"So now we can get out here, right?" Chumley asked.

"Not yet. Andrew might still be in this building. We better find him before we leave. Let's go!"

* * *

 **And just as I expected, this chapter became almost as long as the others. So I'll stop here. Next chapter starts from where Andrew was left off and follows him as he is forced to deal with the cloaked stranger.**


	5. Chapter 5

**The shadow duelists part 2**

Last time we saw Andrew, he was trapped behind a rotating wall of the forbidden dorm building. Jaden and the others ran in the direction that Alexis' scream had come from. While they were looking for her, Andrew tried to find a way out. He shone his flashlight in front of him, looking very carefully to see if he could spot anything that might cause the wall to open up. He searched on the sides, the floor and the ceiling as well. But the only thing he could find was a tunnel leading away from the wall.

"Well, it looks like I can't get out the same way I came in. Guess I have no choice but to go down the tunnel and hope if it leads to an exit."

Andrew walked away from the wall and followed the path until he reached a room with walls made of earth. There were also two passages at the other side of the room. One on the right, and one on the left.

"Okay, where should I go next?" Andrew wondered. As he glanced between the passages, he noticed something on the floor right between them. He made his way to it and picked up what turned out to be a duel monster card. He was surprised to see what kind of card it was.

"Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin. That's Jenny's card. But what's it doing here?"

* * *

In another part of the dorm, Jenny woke up and tried to move, only to find herself tied to a wooden cross.

"I see you're awake young miss." A deep voice spoke up

"W-what? Who's there?" She demanded.

A person stepped out of the shadows. It was the cloaked figure who knocked Jenny out earlier.

"Who are you? What do you want from me?"

"Well, for the moment, I need your assistance to lead your yellow clothed friend right into my trap."

Jenny widened her eyes. _'Andrew.'_ She then glared at the cloaked figure. "You leave him alone. You hear me?"

The cloaked figure chuckled. "You're in no position to make threats. Especially when you have no idea who you're dealing with." The cloaked figure approached her and unleashed an aura of dark energy from his glove. When he was close enough, Jenny was able to see the stranger's smirking mouth that revealed some fangs, making her tremble in fear.

* * *

Meanwhile, Andrew was still staring at the card he found.

"There's no way Jenny would have left this card on purpose. What could have happened?"

As if to answer his question...

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Was that… Jenny?" Andrew asked as he looked in the direction the scream came from, the passage on the right side. "I'm coming Jenny!" He ran down the tunnel in hope to find her. Even though the passage was as long as the last, Andrew was fast enough to made it to the other end in a short time. The room he emerged in was carved in stone. Each wall had a big eye resembling to those on the Millennium items. There were statues of human sized demons surrounding the smooth and flat floor in the middle of the room. On the other side of this room, Andrew saw a wooden cross, with Jenny tied to it. He also noticed a cloaked figure with its glove wearing hand reaching for her.

"Hey, you! Leave her alone!" Andrew called out.

"So, you decided to show up? Good, because now I can have some fun…" The cloaked figure turned around. "…by sending you to the Shadow Realm." The figure pulled back their hood, revealing the face of a man with short white hair. But the most frightening features was his skin that was purple with scales, his smirking mouth revealing some fangs and his yellow snake like eyes. In short, this man looked like a demon.

"Who are you? Why did you kidnap Jenny?"

The demon like man shrugged. "Well, I suppose I owe you some answers before I take your soul. As for who I am, you can call me Kang. And why did I kidnap your friend? So I can duel you in a shadow game."

"A shadow game?" Andrew asked.

"That's right. And if you lose this duel, your soul is mine. And to make things worse for you, I'll be taking her soul as well."

"I won't let you take anyone's soul. Especially Jenny's."

"Be careful Andrew."

"Don't worry. I'll get you out of this. I promise."

"How touching." Kang taunted before tossing Andrew a duel disk who caught it with ease. "Now then, let the shadow game begin." He tossed aside his cloak, revealing his body covered by dark purple armor with a three-eyed skull emblem on his chest plate. The left arm part of his armor extended to form a duel disk with the same color as his armor. Then from out of nowhere, A dark purple fog appeared and wrapped itself around the three people in the room, blocking everything out of sight, except for them. There was only darkness wherever Andrew looked. The wooden cross that Jenny had been tied to was gone and instead she hung in midair, her hands and feet bound by the darkness.

"What's going on?" Andrew asked.

"Welcome to the Shadow Realm. I hope you like it, because this is where you're going to spend your time for all eternity."

Andrew simply activated his duel disk. "Let's just get this duel started."

"If you insist."

"Duel!"

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Kang: 4000**

"Since this is my domain, I'll start." Kang said as he drew his sixth card. "I play a facedown monster in defense mode, then I place another card facedown and end my turn." Two cards appeared in front of him.

"My move. I summon Elemental HERO Heat in attack mode." His white and red armored hero appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1200 LV:4) "This hero gets 200 extra attack points for every Elemental HERO I have on the field, and that includes himself." ( **ATK: 1600-1800** ) "Elemental HERO Heat, attack his facedown monster with Burning Fist!" The armored hero ignited one of his fists and dashed towards the facedown monster.

Kang smirked evilly. "Foolish boy. Attacking my facedown monster with that creature is a waste of your energy." The facedown card flipped up and revealed a giant fiend with silver armor over its skeletal-body. On its chest was blue jewel. And as soon as this monster appeared, it used its giant, orange hands to block Heat's attack. "Your monster is strong, but not strong enough to break through the defense of Renge, Gatekeeper of Dark World." (ATK: 100 **DEF: 2100** LV:4)

The fiend used its giants hands to push Heat back to Andrew's side of the field. But then, Andrew suddenly felt strong pain in his stomach.

 **Andrew: 4000-3700**

"Nnggh. W-what is this pain?"

"This the nature of the shadow games. Any damage you take is real. And there's another thing you should worry about." Andrew looked in the direction Kang was pointing at, and to his horror, he saw something very shocking. A part of Jenny's left arm disappeared.

"What!? What's happening to me?" She asked with fear in her voice.

"What have you done?" Andrew asked with a demanding tone.

"Since I'm the one controlling this shadow game, I decided to add a special rule to make this duel more entertaining. When you lose life points, your friend loses a part of her body to the shadows. But don't worry, she'll get her body back as soon as you win. But I doubt you have what it takes to win this duel."

Andrew grunted before inserting a card into his duel disk. "I play a facedown and end my turn."

"Okay. Then I'll liven things up with the spell card Dark World Lightning. This lets me destroy a facedown card on the field and I think I choose the one on your side." Then from the sky(if there even was a sky), a purple lightning struck Andrew's facedown card. "And once this part is done, I have to discard one card from my hand." Kang slid a card from his hand into the graveyard. When that happened, the ghost of a cylinder-like fiend monster with a larger upper body appeared behind Heat.

"What is that?"

"This is Kahkki, Guerilla of Dark World. Since it was discarded, its special ability activates. I get to destroy a monster on the field and I think you can guess who my target is." The fiend grabbed the hero and exploded, destroying its victim. "And now when that's settled, I summon Beiige, Vanguard of Dark World in attack mode." The monster that appeared in front of its master was a muscular human like fiend wearing bits of armor that looked like as it was made of bone and holding a spear in its hands. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1300 LV: 4) "Now my servant, attack him directly!" The fiend advanced towards Andrew and thrust its spear at him. The weapon passed through his stomach like a ghost, but the pain he suffered was so intense that he fell to his knees and grabbed his stomach.

 **Andrew: 3700-2100**

Jenny faded up to her waist as Andrew lost his life points. "Oh no! Andrew!"

Andrew grunted when got back on his feet. Kang just sneered. "You can fight the pain all you want, I'll get your soul sooner or later. Speaking of souls, I think I'll use my facedown card to banish the soul of your fallen warrior." With that said, Kang revealed his facedown card. "It's called Dark Smog and it works like this; once per turn, I can take a monster from your graveyard and remove it from play. All I have to do is discard one fiend type monster from my hand." Kang discarded another card from his hand. And then purple smoke came out of Andrew's graveyard slot. What happened next was his hero appearing within the smoke. Then something appeared from Kang's graveyard, the ghost of a gray armored fiend with a fur pelt on its back, its face covered, carrying a quiver at its waist and a short bow in one hand. It launched an arrow at Andrew's monster, making it cry in pain before it disappeared.

"No! Heat!"

"Hmhmhm. How unfortunate for you. And it gets worse, because the monster that sent your hero away was Broww, Huntsman of Dark World. And since he was discarded by a card effect, I get to draw one card from my deck." He drew his card and inserted it into his duel disk. "I end my turn with one card facedown."

"My turn." Andrew looked over the cards in his hand. _'His cards are very tricky. Especially since_ _their abilities activates when they are discarded. And the rules of this shadow game doesn't make things better. But still, I have to keep fighting. For Jenny.'_  
"Okay I play the spell card Polymerization. And with it I…"

"Will make this situation worse… for you." Kang interrupted. "Since you were foolish enough to activate a normal spell card, I can use my facedown card. It's a trap card known as Dark Deal. First I must give up 1000 life points."

 **Kang: 4000-3000**

"After that, your won't be able to fuse monsters with your spell card. Instead it becomes a card with the power to force the opposing player to discard one card from their hand."

Andrew was shocked by this. "Could it be that your remaining card…"

Kang smirked evilly as he slid the card into his graveyard. "That's right. It's another Dark World monster. And since it was discarded by a card effect, I get to summon it. So say hello to Lucent, Netherlord of Dark World." The monster that appeared on the field was a bulky demon with horns, wings and skull-like face. Its armor seemed to be made partially of bone and partially of reptilian scales. The armor was shiny and reflective. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 0 LV: 6) "And unfortunately for you it gets worse. Since Lucent was discarded by the effect of _your_ card, I'm allowed to summon another fiend type monster from my deck. And I choose Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World." Once those words left Kang's mouth, a loud roar was heard from above. Andrew looked up and saw the creature that roared a moment ago. It was a menacing dragon with wings. It had a skeletal-looking head with horns near its mouth, attached to a long, bony neck. It also had long tail with a sharp tip. It flew down to the field and landed beside Lucent. ( **ATK: 2700** DEF: 1800 LV: 8)

"Oh my god." Jenny gasped.

"Now I have two powerful monsters on the field thanks to you. There's no way you can win this. So how about you surrender now and let me put you out of your misery?"

Andrew stared at the monsters nervously for moment before giving Kang a glare. "I'll never give up. Nothing you do will make me surrender."

Kang scoffed. "If you want to lose so badly, then make your move."

"I will, but I won't lose to you. I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman in attack mode." The red armored fire hero appeared. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "With this monster summoned, I can take another Polymerization from my deck and add it to my hand. And I'll use it right now to combine Blazeman and Shadow Mist to form Elemental HERO Nova Master." Blazeman was absorbed into the fusion vortex along with the black armored heroine and the red and orange armored hero appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2100 LV: 8) "And since Shadow Mist was sent to the graveyard, I can activate her special ability, which lets me add a HERO monster from my deck to my hand. And I choose Elemental HERO Voltic." Andrew explained as he revealed the monster card he took from his deck. "Nova Master, attack his Lucent with Burning Sphere Bomb." Nova Master created a fire sphere and threw it at the Netherlord.

 **Kang: 3000-2800**

"And since Nova Master destroyed a monster in battle, I get to draw one card from my deck." Andrew his card and smiled when he saw what he drew. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Hmph, what a waste." Kang commented as he drew his next card. "I activate the spell card Pot of Greed. Now I can draw two cards." He looked over the cards he drew and chuckled. "This is the end for you. I will open the doors to Hell for you with my field spell The Gates of Dark World." Behind Kang appeared a large, black gateway with many murals of fiends on it. "As long as this card remains on the field, all fiend type monsters gain 300 attack and defense points."  
( **ATK: 2700-3000** DEF: 1800-2100) ( **ATK: 1600-1900** DEF: 1300-1600) (ATK: 100-400 **DEF: 2100-2400** )

"So much strength." Jenny commented.

"My dear lady, this is nothing. Compared to this that is." Kang inserted his other card into his duel disk. "I activate the spell card Riryoku. With this I can choose a monster on the field and halve its attack points. After that, the lost points are added to another monster on the field. And I think I'll transfer half of your monster's power to my Dragon Lord." A demon-like ghost came out of the spell card and placed a hand on the fiery hero's chest, so it could absorbed his energy. This caused him groan and to fall down on one knee. ( **ATK: 2600-1300** ) Then, the ghost was absorbed into Grapha's body. The dragon roared as its power increased. ( **ATK: 3000-4300** )

"4300 attack points!" Andrew exclaimed.

"That's right. And with that many points, my dragon can finish you up with one blow. Now my Grapha, destroy his monster and the rest of his life points. Dark World Hellfire!" The dragon unleashed a breath of silver flames at the weakened hero.

"Andrew!" Jenny cried.

"You forgot about my facedown card."

"What!?" Kang exclaimed.

"I activate Battle Fusion. This card lets me increase my monster's attack points with the same amount of points as your monster's attack points." With that said, Nova Master held up his hands and absorbed the flames. ( **ATK: 1300-5600** ) After that, he used those flames to form a sphere and threw it at the dragon.

 **Kang: 2800-1500**

"And since Nova Master destroyed another monster, I get another card from my deck." Andrew drew his card before giving Kang a smirk. "What's the matter? Are you upset because your attack backfired?"

"Way to go Andrew!" Jenny cheered.

Kang stood silently for a moment. And then… "Hm. Hmhmhm."

Andrew raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"

"Kehehehe…. Fuhahahahaha! Did you really think you got the upper hand by destroying my Dragon Lord? I'm afraid it's not that simple. Now my Beiige, return to my hand." At the demon-like man's command, the vanguard's body glowed and transformed into a card which was added to Kang's hand.

"Huh? How are you able to return your monster to your hand?"

"How about I let my old friend answer your question?" As soon as those words left the shadow duelist's mouth, a dark portal appeared, and out of it came the dragon-like fiend. ( **ATK: 2700-3000** DEF: 1800-2100 LV: 8)

Andrew gasped. "Grapha!? But he was destroyed."

Kang smirked. "Indeed he was. However, he has the power to come back from the grave. All i have to do is to make one of my Dark World monsters return to my hand."

"Oh no." Jenny said disbelieved.

"And here's more bad news. Now when I have a fiend type monster in my hand, I can use the second effect of my field spell. Once per turn, I can take a fiend type monster from my graveyard and remove it from play, like my broww." The spirit of the named monster appeared on the field before it entered the gateways. "After that I'm allowed to discard another fiend type monster from my hand to draw a card from my deck." After discarding his Vanguard, Kang drew a new card. "But I'm not done yet. Since Beiige was discarded by a card effect, he is automatically summoned from my graveyard." The Gates of Dark World opened up and the spear wielding fiend came out. ( **ATK: 1600-1900** DEF: 1300-1600 LV: 4)

"Great." Andrew commented sarcastically. "So I still have to deal with this fiend army."

"That's not your only concern. Thanks to my field spell, I was able to get this spell card. Activate Card of Demise! Now I can draw until I have five cards in my hand." Kang drew a new hand and was very pleased when saw what he got. "Looks like I'm lucky today. First I place on card facedown." A facedown card appeared behind Beiige. "And now I activate the spell card Bait Doll. This lets me choose a facedown card on the field and reveal it, and if it happens to be a trap card, I can force its activation. So I'll use my spell to activate my facedown trap card, The Forces of Darkness. This allows me to take two Dark World monsters from my graveyard and add them to my hand. So I take back Lucent and Kahkki." The two named cards ejected from his duel disk and he placed them in his hand.

 _'This is bad.'_ Andrew thought.

"And now I activate the spell card Dark World Dealings. Now both of us must draw one card from our decks, then we must discard one card from our hands." Each duelist drew a card and discarded one from the hand. "The card I discarded was Kahkki, so now I can destroy another monster. Say goodbye to your Nova Master." The spirit of Kahkki appeared behind Nova Master and destroyed him with an explosion. "And just to make sure you won't be able to use him again, I activate the effect of Dark Smog. I discard Lucent so I can remove him from the game." The fiery hero appeared before being swallowed by the shadows. "And now that Lucent was discarded by a card effect, he comes back." The winged, skeletal-looking Dark World monster came out from the gates and landed on the field. ( **ATK: 2400-2700** DEF: 0-300 LV: 6)

 _'No. After all the trouble Andrew went through to get rid of those monsters, they were able to return.'_

"Well, it would be waste to give up one of my powerful monsters, but I have to be sure you won't defeat me. So I activate the spell card Mystic Wok. By sacrificing one of my monsters, I can add its attack or defense points to my life points. And I think I sacrifice Beiige and use his attack strength to increase my power." The spear wielding fiend disappeared and Kang was surrounded by a blue healing aura.

 **Kang: 1500-3400**

"I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"My move. And I summon Elemental HERO Ice Edge in attack mode." The monster that appeared was a little kid wearing spiky armor that looked as if it was made of ice. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 900 LV: 3)

Kang scoffed. "What do you think you would accomplish by playing that weakling?"

"Ice Edge may be a monster with low attack strength, but he has a special ability. Once per turn I can discard one card from my hand. After that, Ice Edge can bypass your monsters and attack you directly." Andrew explained as he discarded one of his cards. "Then I play Monster Reborn, and use it to summon my Shadow Mist from my graveyard." The dark armored heroine kneeled down in front of Andrew. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1500** LV:4) "And since she was special summoned, I can activate her second ability. I can take a quick play spell card with the word Change in its name from my deck and add it to my hand. And now Ice Edge, attack him directly with Subzero Punch!" The icy kid dashed towards Kang and punched him with a fist surrounded by ice-cold air.

 **Kang: 3400-2600**

"And now his special ability activates. When Ice Edge inflicts battle damage by a direct attack, I'm allowed to destroy one facedown card in your spell and trap card zone." Kang growled as his facedown card froze solid and then shattered.

 _'Dammit. I'll make that brat pay for doing that.'_

"And now I activate the spell card Mask Change. With this I can send a HERO monster to my graveyard in order to summon a Masked HERO with the same attribute that the sent monster had. Now Ice Edge, time to transform." The named hero was enveloped in a light. "I summon Masked HERO Acid." Ice Edge was replaced by the dark blue armored hero with his gun in hand. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2100 LV: 8) "When this monster is summoned, his ability activates. Now all your spells and traps on the field are destroyed."

Kang watched in horror as the masked hero fired a stream of acid that melted Dark Smog and The Gates of Dark World. ( **ATK: 3000-2700** DEF: 2100-1800) ( **ATK: 2700-2400** DEF: 300-0) (ATK: 400-100 **DEF: 2400-2100** ) He then gave Andrew a hard glare. "You won't get away with this you bastard."

"Oh yes I will. Especially since now my Acid's second ability kicks in, making all your monsters lose 300 attack points." Kang noticed his monsters that fell down to their knees, suffering the burning effect of the acid. ( **ATK: 2700-2400** ) ( **ATK: 2400-2100** ) (ATK: 100-0)

Jenny was overjoyed by this. _'Alright! Now Andrew can destroy any monster he choose.'_

"Masked HERO Acid, attack his Lucent with Acid Blast." The named monster fired another stream of acid, making the body of the Dark World monster to melt.

 **Kang: 2600-2100**

"And with that, I should end my turn."

"Okay you brat, playtime is over. Grapha, annihilate his Shadow Mist with Dark World Hellfire." The dragon unleashed another breath of silver flames and burned the dark armored heroine to ashes.

"Once again, I can take another HERO from my deck and add it to my hand, and I choose Elemental HERO Flash."

"It doesn't matter which card you take. You will be banished to the Shadow Realm. I end my turn with two facedowns.

"I draw." Andrew drew a card and paused for a moment. _'Let's see. I could attack his Dragon Lord. But as long as he has another Dark World monster on the field, he can resurrect it by returning that monster to his hand. So it would be best if I attack his Gatekeeper first.'  
_ "Now Acid, destroy his Renge!"

Acid was aiming his gun at the Gatekeeper of Dark World. But before the battle began, Kang started to chuckle.

"You fool! You just triggered my facedown trap card."

"What!?"

"I reveal my Staunch Defender card. When your monster attacks, I can use this to make your monster attack any monster I choose. Therefore, your target will be my Dragon Lord."

This was definitely not what Andrew expected. "Why would you do that. If you do that then…" He then gasped as he realized. "You're planning to resurrect it, so it can return to the field with its full strength."

But Kang just let out an evil laughter. "A good guess, but I have another plan. A plan that would involve my other facedown." With that said, the card he mentioned was revealed. "I activate the trap card Ambush Shield. This lets me sacrifice one of my monsters. After that, that monster's defense points are added to the attack points of any other monster I choose. So I sacrifice my Gatekeeper of Dark World in order to make my Dragon Lord stronger." The defensive fiend monster changed into light particles which were absorbed by Grapha. The Dragon Lord roared by the extra power. ( **ATK: 2400-4500** )

"4500 attack points!?"

"That's right and thanks to my Staunch Defender, you are forced to attack my Dragon Lord." Andrew could only watch as his hero fired another stream of acid while Grapha unleashed another breath of silver flames. The two attacks met each other head on, but because of the Dragon Lord's extra power, the stream of acid was pushed back by the flames. When they reached the masked hero's gun, an explosion occurred. It was so powerful, it managed to push Andrew, causing him to fall down.

 **Andrew: 2100-0200**

As Andrew's life points went down, more of Jenny faded away. All that remained of her was her head. She gave Andrew a worried look. "Andrew! Are you okay?"

Kang let out another evil laughter. "Hahahaha. Do you understand now? No matter how much you struggle, the outcome will be the same as its meant to be… your soul being swallowed by the shadows. Just give up so I can banish you for all eternity. Your defeat is inevitable."

Andrew was laying face up, groaning in pain. His vision was became blurry.

 _'I-I can hardly see. The pain is unbearable. I… don't think I can keep this up. I'm sorry Jenny.'_ He thought sadly.

But what happened next was something that caught Kang off guard; the deck in Andrew's duel disk was suddenly glowing and what happened next, was something even more shocking. A life size projection of a figure kneeled down at Andrew's side. It was none other than the crimson red cloaked duel monster known as Phantom Magician.

 _'A duel spirit? This brat seems to be more problematic than I thought.'_ Kang thought in annoyance.

The masked spirit placed hand on Andrew's chest.

 _"Andrew. Wake up. You have to get up."_

When Andrew opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was the figure looking down at him.

"W-what the? Phantom Magician? But how? Am I… Am I dreaming?"

 _"No, you're not dreaming at all. You can actually see me. But never mind that. You have to get back to the game. This duel is not over yet Andrew. You can win this."_

"I-I don't know if that's true. That guy's monster is too strong." Andrew replied with a doubtful voice.

 _"Don't give up yet."_ The duel spirit encouraged him. _"You can defeat him. You have to believe in yourself and in your deck. Plus, you made a promise to your friend."_

Andrew widened his eyes as he remembered. "That's right. I promised that I would save Jenny." While speaking, he used all his strength to get up. "You're right. I have to keep fighting. Not just for myself, but for Jenny too." And he was finally back on his feet. He then gave Phantom Magician a grateful smile. "Thanks for your help my friend."

 _"Anytime you need it, partner. Now win this duel."_ With that said the duel spirit returned to the deck and Andrew held a serious look.

Kang was very annoyed by this. "You're so damn stubborn. You haven't a ghost of chance to win this duel. Just GIVE UP!"

"That's not gonna happen. I promised my friend to get her out of this and nothing you do can stop me."

Jenny was glad that he was still fighting. _'Yes. Go get him Andrew.'_

"Now, back to the duel. I summon Elemental HERO Flash in defense mode." The monster that appeared was a man wearing a blue skin tight outfit and silver armor. He also had a lightning bolt-like symbol on his helmet. (ATK: 1100 **DEF: 1600** LV: 4) "And with that I end my turn."

"Fine then." Kang growled as he began his turn. "Grapha, destroy his monster now." The dragon unleashed yet another breath of silver flames and destroyed the defending warrior.

"You triggered Flash's special ability. Since he was destroyed in battle, I can remove him from play, plus three other Elemental heroes from my graveyard. And I choose Shadow Mist, Ice Edge And Blazeman." THe spirits of the named heroes appeared on the field for a moment before they all disappeared. "And with that done, I can take a normal spell card from my graveyard and add it to my hand. The card I choose is Polymerization."

"Hmph, fine. I end my turn."

"Then here goes. I activate the spell card Pot of Greed, which means two more cards for me." Andrew his two cards and smiled when he saw what he got. "Now I place one card facedown and summon Phantom Magician in defense mode." A facedown card appeared, along with the masked skeleton figure. (ATK: 600 **DEF: 700** LV: 3) "I end my turn.

"Enough of this." Kang spat out, before looking at the card he drew. He then gave Andrew an evil smirk. "I hope you're ready, cuz I'm about get rid of your facedown card. But first I play my second Dark World Dealings, so once again, we must draw one card and then discard one." With that said, each player drew a card and discarded one. When that happened, a spirit of a new monster appeared; a fiend monster with gray skin and a big brain wearing nothing but a green cape. It was also wielding a book in its hand.

"What is that?"

"This is Gren, Tactician of Dark World and he has a special ability. As soon as he's discarded from my hand because of a card effect, he automatically destroys one spell or trap card on the field. So say goodbye to your facedown card." The spirit flew over to Andrew's side of the field and smashed his card to pieces. "And with that done, I let my Dragon Lord annihilate your little friend." The dragon-like fiend flew towards Andrew's monster and slashed him with its claws. But before he got hit, Phantom Magician looked back at Andrew and nodded to him.

 _'Thanks again for your help. I won't let you down.'_ Andrew thought before he focused on the duel. "You activated my Magician's ability; when he's destroyed in battle and sent to the graveyard, I'm allowed to summon a HERO monster with up to one thousand attack points, and I choose Elemental HERO Bubbleman." The blue armored hero with white cape appeared (ATK: 800 **DEF: 1200** LV: 4) "And thanks to his special ability, I can draw two cards since he's the only card on my side of the field." He explained as he drew two cards.

"Hmph, you can't keep doing this forever. I'll take down your defense sooner or later, and when that happens, your soul is mine. Make your final move so I can end this."

 _'I have to agree that this will be my last move. So here goes something.'_  
"I draw." Andrew looked at the card he drew and gasped.

Kang gave him a smirk, believing that Andrew got a bad draw. "What's wrong? Didn't you get the card you were hoping for?" He taunted. But then, to his surprise, he heard Andrew chuckle.

"Actually, I got a card that was better than I expected." He replied as he revealed the card he drew. It was Elemental HERO Sparkman.

Kang was now glaring at him. "That's your trump card? There's no way in hell you can defeat my Dragon Lord with that weakling. Especially since he's still powered up thanks to my Ambush Shield card. Are you mocking me?"

"You're right. My Sparkman won't be able to defeat your Dragon Lord… at least not alone."

"Huh?"

"But thanks to my spell card, that will change. I play Polymerization and combine my Bubbleman and Sparkman to create… a hero with a fighting spirit as bright as the sun." The two named heroes were absorbed into the fusion. And then, it suddenly flashed. The light was so bright, that Kang was forced to cover his eyes. Eventually, the light died down. When Kang opened his, he saw a new monster standing in front of Andrew; a man in a white and gold suit that bore six red gems as well as a strange contraption that resembled the sun attached to its back.

"What is that?" He demanded.

"This is my Elemental HERO The Shining." ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2100 LV: 8)

Kang stared at the new monster for a moment before he laughed. "Nice try, but that monster is way too weak to defeat Grapha."

"Then it's a good thing that he has a special ability; he gains 300 attack points for every one of my Elemental heroes that has been removed from the game. And since six heroes are removed from the game so far, The Shining gains 1800 attack points." The hero's body began glowing brightly as he became stronger. ( **ATK: 2600-4400** )

"Hehe. Impressive, but it's still not enough."

"Then I just have to play this spell card, Gold Sarcophagus. With this I can take a card from my deck and remove it from play until my second standby phase after the activation of this card."

The purple scaled man backed away as he realized what Andrew was up to. "If that's the case, t-then…"

"That's right, I can remove another hero from my deck so The Shining gets even stronger. I think I remove Burstinatrix." A golden box appeared, as well as the monster card with the picture of the red clad heroine. The card was then placed inside the box and then, it disappeared. ( **ATK: 4400-4700** )

"No! Now it's stronger than my Dragon Lord."

"Yes, but before I attack, I summon Elemental HERO Voltic in attack mode." A man wearing a gold and purple armor appeared, bolts crackling over his body. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "Now Shining. Attack his Dragon Lord with Solar Burst!" The six spikes on The Shining's contraption started to glow with white energy. And then, The Shining gathered all the energy to form a ball between his palms. Finally, he threw it at the dragon-like fiend and obliterated him.

 **Kang: 2100-1900**

"No, it can't be. You destroyed my Dragon Lord."

"That's right. And with him gone, you are wide open. Now Voltic, attack him directly!" Electricity appeared in Voltic's hands which he sent to Kang.

 **Kang: 1900-0900**

"And now you're finished." Andrew claimed.

"What are you talking about? I still have 900 life points left. What do you mean I'm finished?"

"You are finished because now I can activate Voltic's special ability. When he inflicts battle damage to you, I can special summon one of my Elemental heroes that has been removed from the game."

Kang widened his eyes in horror. "Impossible!"

"It's very possible. See for yourself." With that said, Voltic unleashed electricity in the air and created a dimensional portal. And out of it came Elemental HERO Heat. ( **ATK: 1600-2200** DEF: 1200 LV: 4)

"NO! THIS CAN'T BE!"

"Alright!" Jenny cheered.

"Now Heat, attack him directly with Burning Fist!" The hero dashed towards Kang and punched him with his fire covered fist, knocking him flat on his back.

 **Kang: 0900-0000**

The darkness surrounding the three people suddenly began to amass around Kang. "N-no. This can't be happening."

"Looks like you've fallen victim to your own rules."

Kang gave him a hateful glare. "DAMN YOU!"

And so, he was enveloped by the shadows, at which a dazzling light shone all over the two academy students, forcing them to close their eyes. When they opened their eyes, they were back in the room they'd been in before. Except that now Jenny was tied to the wooden cross again, but with her entire body having reappeared.

"Andrew, you did it."

Andrew smiled at her. "I told you I would, didn't I? Now I'll untie you so we can get out of here." He put away his duel disk and deck, then proceeded to undo the ropes around her wrists, waist and ankles. Luckily, the knots weren't tied so tight so it was easy for Andrew to untie Jenny. In a short time he'd managed to free her, though she was feeling a little weakened by the whole experience.

"Here. Hang on to my shoulder and I can help you walk."

"Thank you." She place her left arm around his shoulder and they both left through the only exit. "So how did you end up here?" She asked as they walked.

"Well, Jaden, Syrus, Chumley and I were in a room where we found a tablet on the wall that showed the seven Millennium items. I was standing close to it when it turned around and I got stuck on the other side. We tried to move it with no success, then we heard Alexis screaming. The others went after her and I stayed back to try to find a way out myself. I came to a room at the end of a tunnel and found one of your cards." As he spoke, he gave her back the Neo-Parshath card. "And then I heard you screaming and came down here."

"I saw Alexis taken by a tall man in black before I passed out."

"She'll be fine. I have no doubt that Jaden got Alexis free." They continued in silence until they arrived in the room with the three tunnels, including the one they came through. "Okay. We just came through here and the one across is the one leading to the wall that trapped me. So I guess we take the right." With that said, they followed the path.

They continued walking, the passage leading them upwards. Eventually they arrived at a spot where they could see a little light. When they stopped, they saw a bunch of wooden planks barring their way. "Do you think we can break through this?" Andrew asked.

"Well, let me see how stable it is." Jenny stood off of Andrew walked to the barrier. Her footing was steady now that she'd recovered. She raised one hand and pushed against it. The whole thing fell outward despite the fact that she'd hardly put in any effort.

Andrew blinked twice before shrugging. "Well, that was easy." He commented, earning a giggle from her.

They walked into another room and were to the sight of the Slifer trio and an unconscious Alexis.

"Hey Andrew! Good to see you again." Jaden said.

"Same to you Jaden." Andrew replied.

"What happened to you?" Syrus asked.

"I'll tell you everything. But before that, we better get out here before something else happens."

"Yeah, good idea."

And so, everyone left the building and told each other what had happened their points of view.

* * *

Later on, Crowler was walking inside the abandoned dorm. "Hehehe. Little Jaden must be beaten and paralyzed with fear by now. Come out shadow duelist. I want to hear every last detail, every chattering of his jaw. Hm?" Crowler noticed a card on the floor and picked it up. "What's this? "It's the shadow duelist's Pandemonium card. He would never leave this behind unless… He lost!?" He then muttered to himself, discontent that his plan had failed.

* * *

Alexis was leaning against a tree, still unconscious. Everyone was waiting for her to wake up. Eventually, she stirred from her unconsciousness and opened her eyes.

"Well well, good morning sleepyhead." Jaden said.

"Where am I? What are you doing here?"

"Hold on. What kind of thank you is that? We're here because we had to find the bad guys, win the duels and rescue the damsels in distress."

"Yeah, I noticed a cloaked figure sneaking up on Jenny." She said while looking at he female friend.

"And you were taken by a man in black. But at least we each had a brave hero to come rescue us." Jaden and Andrew smiled sheepishly at her words.

"Oh, we found your card and this." Jaden handed Alexis back Etoile Cyber and a framed picture of the Obelisk student they'd found.

Her eyes widened as she recognized the boy in the picture. "My brother! This is the first trace of him Iv'e seen in a long time."

"That's right. I brought it to let you know that we wanna help you find him. After all, we can't have you getting locked up in any more tombs searching for him all by yourself."

"You were really worried about me, weren't you?"

As soon as those words left her mouth, everyone noticed that light was beginning to appear over the tree tops.

"Uh oh. Sun's up. We'd better get back before they notice that we're gone."

"Bye girls." Syrus said.

"Yeah, later." Chumley said.

"See ya in class." With that said, the three slifers took off running in the direction of their dorm. "Oh, and if anyone asks, we were never here!"

Alexis looked at the picture with a soft smile. _'But you were and you saved me. And now_ I _might still be able to save my brother too.'_

"Well, I better head back to my dorm as well." Andrew said as he was about to leave.

"Hey Andrew." Jenny called out.

He turned around to face her. "What is it?"

"You think you'll be okay? You were really hurt when that man dueled you."

Andrew gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about me. At least you are safe. That's all that matters to me."

Jenny widened her eyes when he said those words.

"Okay, see ya later." And so, he left.

Jenny watched at him walking away, while her cheeks tinged red.

Alexis noticed her blushing face and smiled. "Come on Jenny, let's go back to our dorm."

"Huh?" Jenny almost jumped when Alexis spoke up and turned towards her. "Oh yeah, good idea."

Alexis was amused by Jenny's reaction, but decided to leave it be. And then, they headed back to their dorm.

* * *

 **Here you go. Another chapter to this story. I hope you like it.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Duel and Unusual Punishment**

Early in the morning, before the sun had risen, a grey fog hung over Duel Academy like a blanket. Though one could see through it, visibility was nevertheless quite reduced. And since it was still quite dark, the lighthouse pierced through the eerie darkness. At the moment, someone was walking to the docks. It was Alexis. She walked in silence , the only sounds coming from her footsteps. Before she reached the lighthouse, she noticed someone standing near it. That person was an Obelisk blue boy. He had dark blue hair, eyes of a lighter shade and a stern expression on his face. He was someone Alexis knew.

"Zane?" The named boy just stood there, staring at the sea with his arms crossed. "Hello?" Alexis approached him. "What are you doing out here?"

"Nothing." He replied in a neutral voice. "I just felt like being alone."

"You know, I thought once your brother enrolled here, you'd feel like that less, not more."

"Well maybe that's because my brother shouldn't be here." He stated bluntly.

* * *

Later that day, after the sun started to shine its morning light, Andrew was heading out for his usual morning training. For now, he was running around campus for some warm up. He was running until he came to the Slifer dorm. It was then he suddenly heard the sound of a vehicle. He turned around and saw an army style truck driving on the road towards the Slifer dorm."

"What's that? I better hide and see what's going." He said before hiding at the corner of the building.

When the truck stopped in front of it, a dozen or so men hopped out of the canvas covered back. They were all dressed in black and gray military like suits, with flat hats on their heads and round dark sunglasses. As they marched up the stairs to the second level, Professor Banner walked out of his room with Pharaoh at his feet. He wore a loose gray shirt, pants, blue slippers and was rubbing his eyes in attempt to rid himself of his tiredness.

"Aren't you kids getting a little old to be playing war? Come on you guys, how about a nice, quiet game of charades? Huh?" He looked up to see the soldiers rapidly ascending the steps. "Oh no! It's the Disciplinary Action Squad! They only show up when a student is in serious trouble. And they're headed towards Jaden's room."

Unbeknownst to Banner, Andrew heard what he said. He was really shocked by this. _'No way! Could it be that someone told them about the incident at the abandoned dorm?'_

* * *

Inside the mentioned room, Jaden, Syrus and Chumley were all sleeping very peacefully, not to mention all three of them were snoring. It was nothing more than relaxing, that is until someone knocked loudly on their door.

"Open up. Open this door right now or we'll bust it down." Someone said from outside.

All three boys stirred a little, but only Jaden sat up on the edge of his bed. "Oh, is that so? (yawn) You and what army?" He asked doubtfully.

"The Disciplinary Action Squad Army." The voice answered.

"Huh? Disciplinary Action Squad?"

Jaden stood up and opened the door and on the other side stood a gray haired woman dressed in a green uniform with a beret and a cape. There were also two men standing behind her dressed in similar uniforms, plus sunglasses.

"You must be Jaden. And that must be Syrus." The light blue haired boy woke up when she mentioned his name. "You're both under campus arrest."

"Huh? What'd we do?" Jaden asked.

"That will be made more than apparent at the interrogation." She informed them.

* * *

"What!? Suspended?" They said at the same time.

Jaden and Syrus stood in wide a circular room inside the academy building. They were facing three television screens. The one on their right showed the woman who'd brought them from their room, in the center was Chancellor Sheppard and in the left one was Dr. Crowler.

"That's what I suggest." The woman spoke. "You trespassed into the abandoned dorm. An anonymous letter from one of our faculty members confirms it. You must be punished so an example is set for all the students."

"But what kind of example are we setting?" Crowler spoke. "That we are a bunch of hard hearted tyrants? I say we arrange something more sporting."

"Sporting? What do you mean by that?" Jaden asked.

"Well Jaden, of the top of my head, how about… you partner up with Syrus in a tag duel? Win and you're cleared. Lose and you're expelled."

"A tag duel?" Jaden smiled at the idea. "That sounds sweet."

On the other hand, Syrus was more worried about the conditions of the punishment. "B-but Jaden, he said expelled."

"Chancellor, I believe they have accepted the conditions."

"Fine. Then I'll arrange some opponents."

"Oh now Chancellor. Don't you fret about that. I'll take care of all the particulars for the event."

* * *

Later on, Chumley went to the Chancellor's office after hearing about the conditions Jaden and Syrus were placed in.

"You wanted to see me Chumley?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to tell you th-that… I was at the abandoned dorm too. And I-I should be the one to duel with Jaden."

"No. It should be me." They turned to see Alexis walk up to the desk, the automatic door closing behind her. Chumley was definitely not expecting Alexis to come here. And neither did Sheppard. "Listen, they were at the dorm helping me."

"Duh, that's bogus. Alexis, it was so totally my fault. I led them to the abandoned dorm, cuz I wanted to check out its uh… abandoned cafeteria."

Sheppard was a little amused by hearing Chumley's excuse.

"Fat chance Chumley. Please Chancellor, just let me be his partner."

"No, you can't." A voice spoke up from behind. Alexis and Chumley turned around to see Andrew enter the room with a serious look on his face. And once again, the chancellor was surprised to see another student interrupt them like that. "There's no way you can be his partner. Jaden and the others entered the abandoned dorm because I wasn't able to stop them. I trespassed into that dorm as much as them. So if anyone should team up with Jaden for the tag duel, it's me. Please Chancellor, let me be Jaden's partner."

Sheppard found their attempt to help Jaden and Syrus so admirable, that he couldn't help but smile. The boys had real good friends. But as the Chancellor, he still had to keep some authority. "Look, I realize the stakes are high. But the team up has been set. Syrus is Jaden's partner and I'm sure that he'll do fine."

Andrew, Alexis and Chumley looked at each other, all of them thinking that it wasn't going to be easy, at least not for Syrus. This was going to be a hard punishment.

* * *

At the Slifer dorm, Syrus was waiting for Chumley. In the meantime, Jaden was sitting at the desk, going through his deck. At the moment Chumley entered the room, Syrus latched onto him.

"Oh? So did he say yes? Oh please tell me that he said yes." He pleaded. "If I'm Jaden's partner, I'll get us both expelled."

"I tried Syrus. I even lied and told the chancellor I was the one who led you into the dorm."

"Hehe. Well, you did lead us into its cafeteria." Jaden said, still going through his deck.

"Hey, why aren't you worried Jaden?" Syrus asked. "Aren't you afraid that I'm gonna get us kicked out?"

"Nah. I wouldn't want any other partner."

"What? Are you nuts?"

"Look, Syrus… we're gonna go in there, duel our best and win the match. Know why?"

"Hm?"

"Cause you and I are gonna work out our kinks right now. Now go and grab your deck buddy. Cause we're gonna duel."

"Uh…"

* * *

Andrew was walking around the campus, feeling frustrated about the situation. He should have been chosen as Jaden's partner instead of Syrus. Because there's no doubt that Crowler was planning to match them up against duelists with great skill.

"Dammit. If only I was teamed up with Jaden. I don't want two of my friends getting kicked out of here." He muttered.

"Andrew?" A voice called out.

He turned around and saw Alexis and Jenny walking up to him.

"Oh. Jenny. Alexis. What's up?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Jenny replied with a concerned look in her face. "Alexis told me what happened. She told me that you and the others tried to convince Sheppard to have someone else to team up with Jaden."

Andrew let out an almost heavy sigh. "Yeah, that's right. Because if Jaden and Syrus fail the upcoming tag duel, the'll be expelled. I don't want to see two of my friends getting kicked out of here."

Jenny placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I know how you feel. We all do. But we can't just give up that easily." She gave him a cheerful smile. "None of us might be able to team up with Jaden, but we can still help, don't you agree?"

Andrew was surprised that she was so positive, but then smiled back. "You're right. We should be able to help them any way we can. Jaden and Syrus can win if they do their very best."

Alexis nodded. "I agree. How about we see what they're doing."

"Yeah, good idea."

With said, they headed to the Slifer dorm.

* * *

Once they arrived, they saw Chumley looking over the edge of the cliff.

"Hey, Chumley!" Andrew called out, making him turn around.

"Hey."

"What are you doing out here?" Alexis asked.

"Well, Jaden and Syrus are about to duel."

"Oh, you mean like practice?" Jenny asked. "Not a bad idea."

Chumley nodded, before looking down to his below. "All right you guys. Remember this is just practice for your upcoming tag team match, so go easy."

They noticed that Jaden had an excited smile on his face while Syrus on the other hand looked nervous.

"Of course, I'm not sure Jaden even knows how to go easy."

"That's probably a good thing." Alexis said.

"What do you mean?" Chumley asked.

"It means I know Dr. Crowler and he's not going to match them up against any pushovers."

"Both Syrus and Jaden are going to need to be at their very best." Jenny said. "Because if they're not, they'll both be expelled."

* * *

"All right Syrus." Jaden spoke up, waving towards his friend. "Get your game on buddy. And let's have some fun."

"Sure, fun. I guess we might as well squeeze some in, before we get kicked outta here." Syrus spoke in a saddened voice and was looking more at the ground.

"What was that?"

"Oh, uh. Nothing."

"Then let's duel."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's duel."

 **Jaden: 4000**

 **Syrus: 4000**

"Here I come Syrus." Jaden drew his sixth card. "Sweet! I summon Elemental HERO Avian in attack mode." The bird like green hero appeared on Jaden's field. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "And I'll also throw down a facedown. Your go."

"All right, let's see." Syrus looked over his hand and smiled when he saw the card he drew. _'Ooh. My Patroid's attack can beat Jaden's Avian.'_

"Hey, what's that smile about? You got something?" Jaden called out to him.

"Uhh, well um, yeah I think so. Patroid, attack mode." The monster that appeared was rather… interesting. It looked like a police car from an old kid's show, complete with big eyes, and a police hat on its roof, its wheels sticking out like arms and legs. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Go, Siren Smasher!" The comic vehicle got down on its tires and drove towards the opposing monster with its red light and a siren blaring.

"Not so fast! Iv'e got a trap. Negate Attack." The trap card unleashed a strange vortex that forced Patroid backwards, away from Avian, leaving him safe this turn."

"Aww man, I should've guessed that your facedown was a trap."

"Duh, Sy walked right into that one." Chumley felt something rubbing itself against his leg. he looked down and saw Banner's cat Pharaoh and picked him up.

"This isn't a good sign. There's no way they'll stand a chance in the tag match if Syrus plays like this." Alexis commented.

Syrus was sitting on the ground and made small designs in the dirt. "Oh boy. Don't you think that dirt is just the coolest Jaden?"

"Sy, don't crack up yet. You just made one mistake. That's all." Jaden tried to reassure Syrus.

"Yeah. Coming to this school."

"No Sy. You just forgot to use Patroid's special power is all. He let's you check out one of your opponent's facedown cards once per turn. You could have seen my trap."

"Yeah. I know I'm no good. I don't belong here."

"Looks like Syrus has some serious confidence issues." Jenny remarked.

"Whoa! Slow down there. I didn't mean anything like that." Jaden said, surprised at his friend.

Syrus lowered his head. "I… I know you didn't Jaden. I know you were just trying to help. It's just that…"

"No look, you're right. I shouldn't butt in. We are opponents right now. And from here on out, we otta act like it. Game on." Jaden looked at the card he drew. _'All right. Syrus is in for a shock'_  
"I summon Elemental HERO Sparkman in attack mode." The blue, gold armored hero appeared next to the other. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "And now, I'll have my Sparkman attack Patroid." Sparkman formed a ball of electricity in his hands which he turned into a short lance. He held it in one hand before tossing it straight at the police car's center.

 **Syrus: 4000-3600**

"And now, Avian, attack Sy! Windstorm Strike!" Avian leapt into the air and flapped his wings, creating a gust of wind which hit the short Slifer, followed up by a diving fist that knocked him down on his back.

 **Syrus: 3600-2600**

"Last I'll trow down a facedown. And that's it."

Syrus sat up, smiling slightly. "Can I crack up now? I just got nailed on both of our turns. I can't win."

"Of course you can win Syrus!" Alexis called out to him. "You just have to believe in yourself!"

"Yeah! We know you got more tricks in your deck! I know you got some good combos with your machine cards.!" Andrew added.

"They're right Syrus! Don't give up!" Jenny jumped in.

"I mean, duh Syrus! That's the first thing they teach you in freshman dueling class! I should know, I had to take it twice!" Chumley shouted.

Andrew looked at him with a raised eyebrow. _'Took it twice, huh. I wonder what year he's in now.'_

"They'r right. I can't give up the match so soon. Especially since I'm not just dueling for myself, but for Jaden as well." He got up straight as he spoke. "And the best thing I can do for him right now would be … to take him down."

"Come on Sy, you can do this!" Jenny said.

"Totally. We believe in you. You just gotta believe in yourself, duh!"

Alexis giggled and looked at Chumley. "You know Chumley, you're pretty good with words of encouragement."

"Huh?" Chumley was surprised by the comment before smiling. "Yeah, well I got all kinds of books of self motivation. For some reason my dad keeps getting them for me."

"Yeah, I wonder why." Jenny said. "Anyway, at least Syrus is playing in the duel now rather than the dirt. Nice job."

"Thank you."

"Now the question is, how will he play?" Andrew asked.

"All right." Looked at the cards in his hand. _'I don't have a monster that can take on Jaden right now, so I'll have to use a different strategy.'  
_ "I'm throwing down the spell card Pot of Greed. And now I'll use its magical charm and then draw two additional cards from my deck." Syrus drew his two cards and was very shocked to see one of the cards he drew. "Huh?!"  
 _'Powerbond!?'_

 _'Judging by Syrus' face, he must have just drawn a sweet card.'_ Jaden thought.

"Powerbond's like Polymerization… but better." Syrus muttered to himself. "Whatever machine type fusion monster I summon, it's attack points are doubled. But oh well, I'm not good enough to play a card this strong. At least according to my brother."

* * *

 **Flashback**

 _'I'll never forget that day. It was back at grade school and I was dueling this really mean bully. It was my big chance to stand up to him, to show him that I couldn't be pushed around._ _'_

 **Syrus: 1600**

 **Bully: 1900**

A younger version of Syrus was facing a big sized boy. Syrus had two monsters on his side on the field. One of them was Steamroid; A red and black steam train with the same cartoonish features as Patroid. The other monster was Gyroid; A blue helicopter that also had the same cartoonish features. On the bully's side of the field was a facedown card and a black armored warrior type monster known as Gearfried the Iron Knight.

"All right, you're going down." Syrus drew his next card and was very happy at his luck. _'Awesome, Powerbond. The card my brother gave me. I'll win for sure now.'_

"Quit your stalling ya little pipsqueak. You know you're gonna lose. So let's just get it over with." The bully barked.

"Yeah that's what you think. But you're wrong. This duel's mine."

"Yeah right. The only thing that's gonna be yours is a severe butt-kicking."

"Sorry, but I'm done being scared of all your nasty threats. Do ya hear that? I'm not afraid of you anymore. Know why? Cause I'm gonna be the one who takes you down."

"STOP!" A voice interrupted.

Syrus was surprised by the interruption and fell to the ground. He sat up and looked behind him. "Hey, who said that? Huh?" The person who interrupted them was a boy with dark blue hair, wearing a blue school uniform. This boy was a younger version of Syrus' older brother… "Zane?"

He walked up to the bully and held out a card. "This duel never happened, got it? Just take this and walk away."

The bully looked at the card and smirked. "Nice card. You got yourself a deal." He took the offered card and walked away.

"What're you doing Zane!? I was about to win this duel with the card you gave me."

Zane didn't even turned around to face him. "No Syrus, you weren't."

"Huh?"

"And I would have never given you that card had I known that you would misplay it like you were about to."

"Misplay? I was not!"

"You were! This was the facedown card that your opponent had on the field, Syrus." He kept his back to Syrus all along as he talked and as he showed him a certain trap card.

"Spellbinding Circle?"

"That's right. A very powerful trap card. And when it's sprung, the monster that it ensnares can neither attack or change its battle mode. So you would have summoned your fusion monster with Powerbond and its attack points would have been doubled. But then Spellbinding Circle would have prevented you from attacking with him and then you would have been left taking a hit to your life points at the end of your turn for having used Powerbond."

What Zane said was 100 % correct and the truth was really painful for Syrus. He struggled to prevent himself from crying.

"You weren't thinking Syrus. You didn't take into account the facedown card and you didn't take into account Powerbond's adverse special effect. Sure, you may know how to use the card, but there's more to dueling than simply that."

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"Just holding this card again gives me the chills." Syrus muttered as his mind returned to the present. "And what did he mean that knowing how to use it wasn't enough."

 _'Syrus sure is struggling with his move.'_ Jaden thought. "Hey! You alright there Sy?"

Syrus' eyes snapped open and he shook off his feeling. He put his Powerebond back and pulled out a different card. "I'm gonna play this spell card, Polymerization." The light and dark blue swirling fusion vortex appeared over Syrus. "And I'll use it to fuse together the Gyroid and Steamroid that I have in my hand to create, the Steam Gyroid." The two named monster were sucked into the vortex. The results came out as gray machine shaped mostly like the steam train, but with helicopter blades around its 'waist'. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF: 1600 LV: 6) "All right Steam Gyroid, it's time to go locomotive. Attack, Train Twister!" The monster rotated its blades rapidly, creating a tornado funnel that rose high into the air and curved around before slamming into Avian. The winged hero struggled for a few moments before hearing a loud whistling sound. Steam Gyroid emerged its head from the whirlwind a repeatedly struck Avian with its rotating blades.

 **Jaden: 4000-2800**

"All right! Gotcha. Had enough practice?"

Syrus was surprised when he realized that Jaden was laughing. "What are you talking about, have I had enough? Sy, you know the old saying; no pain, no gain. And with what I have planned, you stand to gain a lot. You may be one of my best pals, but now we're rivals. And…" Jaden looked at the cards in his hands. "I got the cards to treat you like one. Brace yourself! Now, I activate the spell card Polymerization. Elemental HERO Sparkman and Elemental HERO Clayman unite." The two named hero monsters flew up into the darkened clouds overhead. When they did, a number of lightning bolts struck the ground. "And here he comes, the Elemental HERO Thunder Giant!" The tall, yellow armored electric hero descended from the sky. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 1500 LV: 6)

* * *

As Jaden's monster appeared, Pharaoh jumped out of Chumley's arms.

"That cat's got the right idea." Alexis commented.

"Oh please. It's just another monster Alexis." Chumley replied.

"No, it's more than just that Chumley." Andrew said. "Thunder Giant can destroy one monster on the turn he's summoned if that monster's original attack points are less than his own."

"Really? Guess practice may be getting out early for Syrus then."

* * *

"Ok Thunder Giant, take out Steam Gyroid!" Jaden ordered his electric hero.

Thunder Giant pointed one finger at the clouds and a thin stream of electricity shot out from it. And then, a shower of bright needles rained down upon Steam Gyroid, hammering it hard and fast. The cartoonish machine let out a panicked whistle before being wiped off the field.

Syrus lowered his arm as the smoke cleared. "Aw man. That leaves me defenseless."

"Yeah it does." Jaden replied as he held up a certain hero card. "But I'm not done yet. Burstinatrix, I summon you in attack mode!" The red-clad heroine appeared on the field and flew around Thunder Giant before stopping in mid-air. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 800 LV: 3) "Now comes the double tag attack. Thunder Giant, Voltic Thunder!" Electricity appeared in the giant hero's hands which he sent at Syrus. He screamed as his body became a current of high voltage power, the electricity coursing through him, knocking him to his knees.

 **Syrus: 2600-0200**

"Now Burstinatrix attack! Flare Storm!" The female hero created two fireballs in her palms and hurled them at the kneeling Syrus, knocking him on his in the process.

 **Syrus: 0200-0000**

"And that would be game. That was a good duel there Syrus."

"I don't know about that. I didn't up too much of a fight Jaden."

"What are you talking about? Jaden stopped, a few inches away from Syrus. "Sure, I was able to pull it out at the end, but you made some sweet moves. You otta be proud."

"Yeah." Syrus lowered his head.

"Although I gotta admit, I'm curious about something. What was that one card you drew but didn't play. You looked so excited." Jaden leans down and took Syrus' card to have a look. He was surprised to what kind of it was. "Powerbond!? Why didn't you use it? You would've doubled Steam Gyroid's attack points. You would've had one tough monster. You know, on second thought, for my sake, I'm glad you didn't use it."

"You don't understand. My bro says I'm not good enough to use it. And I'll probably never be." Syrus stood up and snatched the card away. "And it's clear you'll never be able to win the tag team duel if I'm your partner." With that said, Syrus ran off.

"Sy, wait!"

"Sy!" Chumley yelled at him and ran to cut him off at the pass. Andrew, Alexis and Jenny were left alone on the cliff, the scene still playing in their heads.

* * *

The waves crashed against the rock as Andrew, Alexis and Jenny walked up to Jaden, who was looking out at the water.

"I guess practice doesn't always make for perfect, huh Jaden. At least not for Syrus, it seems." Alexis reasoned.

"I don't get it. He's such a cool guy. I wish he could just see what I see. That the only thing that's holding him back is himself. I mean, he had this primo card all set to play, but he doesn't use it. And why? Cause some brother of his said not to."

"Whoa, really?" Andrew asked. "Sounds like an awful brother if he's the reason why Syrus never played."

Alexis and Jenny, however, looked at Jaden, their eyes wide at what he said.

Jaden noticed this. "What is it Alexis? Am I missing here?"

Andrew couldn't help but wonder about their reactions as well. "Yeah, was it something Jaden said?"

"Yeah…" Alexis replied. "That brother of his goes to this school. And you've probably heard of him too."

The boys didn't seem to get what she said.

"Um, Sorry. But I don't think I've heard of him at all." Andrew said, as he raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, me neither. Who are you talking about?" Jaden asked?

"Hello!" Jenny spoke up. "Third year Obelisk blue and number one duelist at the academy. He's the big man on campus. Zane! And he really is as good as his reputation."

"Yeah? Well I'll tell you girls, it doesn't sound like he's very good to his little brother." Jaden turned back to the waves. "Man,I wonder what happened between them."

"Jaden, don't pry." Alexis warned him.

But Jaden just grinned and punched his open palm. "Oh I won't pry. I'll duel this guy to find out what's up."

"Jaden! You're not listening." She protested. "Nobody messes with Zane."

 _'You make it sound like he's untouchable.'_ Andrew thought.

"Yeah? Well they do when their tag team partner's not dueling up to snuff because of him. Besides, I wanna see how I stack up."

 _'Well, if he's not going listen to me…'_ Alexis thought, before giving him a smile. "You go get him Jaden."

Jaden threw his fist int the air. "All right. Look out Zane, I'm coming for you." And with that, he ran off.

"Jaden, sure is confident." Andrew said. "If only Syrus was the same as him."

Jenny nodded. "Yeah, he definitely need some help with that."

"And perhaps I can help you with that." A voice spoke up. The group turned to see a certain Obelisk blue boy with dark purple hair.

"Michael?" Alexis said.

"Yo, what's up?" He greeted with a smile.

"What are you doing here?" Andrew asked.

"Well, I was walking around when I noticed Syrus running away from here with an upset expression on his face. So I decided to come here and see what's going on. When I arrived, I happened to overhear your conversation."

"So you know, huh." Jenny said.

"Yup, and I must say, I'm not really happy about this at all." He said, as he almost looked like he was angry. "With that said, I want to join you and help Syrus with his problems."

Andrew smiled. "Thanks Michael."

He gave him a thumbs up and grinned. "My pleasure."

* * *

 **And Done. Hope you enjoyed it.**


	7. Chapter 7

**For the Sake of Syrus**

The day after Jaden talked with Alexis and Jenny, he found himself walking through the halls of Duel Acadmey and arrived at the card shop. He could hear the conversation with them earlier replay in his mind.

 _"Syrus has a brother that goes to this school Jaden. You've probably heard of him too."_

 _"What are you talking about?"_

 _"Hello! Third year Obelisk blue and number one duelist at the academy! He's the big man on campus. Zane! And he really is as good as his reputation."_

Jaden sat down at a table after grabbing a duel request form and started to fill it out. "I can't believe this Zane guy. I mean, no wonder Syrus has zero confidence. If my big bro told me that I wasn't good enough to use some card, I'd be insecure too. Well that's all about to change."

He placed his pencil at his chin while thinking. _'Hm, I wonder… do you spell Zane with two N's?'  
_ "These duel request forms are such a drag."

As he continued writing, Crowler happened to pass by him. He walked up to him. "Duel request form?" He said, as he grabbed the paper.

"Hey!"

"Planning a duel, are we?" He asked while looking at it. "Against whom?" His eyes widened when saw the name written on it. "You must be joking."

"No, actually I'm not. I'm taking Zane on to help Syrus get over his confidence problems. So he'll be ready for our upcoming tag match."

"Ah yes, of course. The big tag team match. The one where if you lose, you'll both be expelled from the academy, am I right? And you say that dueling Zane will help you prepare. Well that's a shame because, there'll be no duel." Crowler then proceeded to tear the paper to shreds in front of Jaden's startled face."

* * *

At that time, in the three Slifer boys' room, Syrus was alone, sitting on his bed, with the blanket on his head and staring at his Powerbond card.

 _"I would have never given you that card had I known you would misplay it."_

"Ah!" Syrus cried out when he heard Zane's voice inside his head. He tried to shut the voice out by covering his ears, but he could still hear his brother's scolding voice.

 _"Sure, you may know how to use Powerbond, but there's more to dueling than just that."_

"Aww man. I don't know a thing about Duel Monsters. I'm gonna let Jaden down."

* * *

Then in his mind, Syrus imagined himself and Jaden dueling against two people in a tag duel.

"You gotta be kidding me. That's your move?" One of the opponents said. "Fine, then I'm gonna use my spell card to take control over your monster and attack… Jaden."

And with that, Syrus' Patroid turned towards Jaden and punched him, knocking him on his back.

"It's all my fault." Syrus said disbelieved.

 **Jaden and Syrus: 1200-0000**

While laying on the ground, Jaden reached out with one of his arms. "Why Sy? WHYYY!?"

"I'll tell you why. Because he doesn't belong here." A voice spoke up.

Syrus looked in the direction the voice came from and to his horror, that voice belonged to Zane.

"Big bro?"

Zane then let out a sinister laughter.

* * *

"I'm toast!" Syrus cried out, as his mind returned to reality.

* * *

Meanwhile, Chumley was sitting on a tree branch, his deck spread out before him and a Des Koala card in his hand.

"Look, it's not you, it's me. I just can't use you in my deck anymore. I gotta make room for another koala. 15 ought to do."

"Hey Chumley. What are you doing up there?"

"Huh?" Chumley looked below to see Andrew and Michael looking up at him. "Oh, hi Andrew. And you are, um… Michael, right?"

"Yup. It's been a while." He greeted with a grinning face. "Anyway, what are you doing, sitting in the tree?"

"Well, just rearranging my deck. I wanted to make room for another koala or two."

"Sounds like you really like koalas so much huh." Michael said.

"Yeah, totally. Koalas rocks."

"But there aren't many types of koala monsters though." Andrew said. "And according to the rules of Duel Monsters, you may only have three copies of one card of the same name in your deck."

Chumley blinked twice before before responding. "Um duh, I totally know about that rule." He paused for a moment before scratching at his cheek, as he looked a little embarrassed. "Well, at least now I do."

Michael sweat dropped at his response. _'So he never knew about that rule huh.'_

"Lousy Dr. Crowler." A familiar voice spoke up from a distance. The boys turned to see Jaden walking towards them, and he wasn't really happy. "Where does it say those duel request forms need to be filled out in triplicate? And with a number eight pencil?"

"Hey Jaden!" Andrew called out.

The brown haired Slifer noticed his Ra yellow friend. "Oh, hey Andrew. Huh?" He then noticed the Obelisk blue boy with him. "Wait, is that you Michael? It's been a while."

"It sure is." He greeted back. "So, what's up? I think we heard you talk to yourself about duel request forms or something."

Jaden then made a sour expression. "Yeah, I was about to fill out one so I could duel Zane. But then, Dr Crowler showed up and teared it to shreds."

"Wait a minute!" Chumley spoke up. "The Zane!?" He was so surprised, that he started to lose balance and rolled over on the branch, but managed to wrap his arms and legs around it, though he caused most of his cards to fall down to the ground in the process.

"Whoa! What's that?" Jaden looked up and saw Chumley hanging upside down from the branch… kind of like a koala. "Uh huh. It's either a giant tree sloth, or it's Chumley."

"Hey. What up?"

Jaden kneeled down and checked out the cards Chumley dropped. "Wow Chum. There's like, a zillion koala cards down here."

"Yeah, they so rule. Wanna have a pick up duel against them?"

"Hey… a pick up duel, why didn't I think of that?" Jaden suddenly turned around and ran in the same direction he'd come.

"Hey, Jaden! Where are you going!?" Andrew called out.

"The Obelisk Blue dorm!"

"But why!?" Michael asked.

"A pick up duel… with Zane!"

"What!? Seriously!?" Chumley shouted in shock. And then, he lost his grip and fell down.

"Are you okay Chumley?" Andrew asked, as he helped the koala duelist up.

"Yeah, I think so."

"But I wonder if Zane will accept Jaden's challenge." Michael said.

"Is Jaden actually going to challenge Zane. I mean, duh. Zane is the number one duelist at the academy."

"And he's also Syrus' brother." Andrew said. "But apparently, Syrus has no confidence because of him. And Jaden want to duel Zane so he can find out what's going on between them."

"Really? Is that why Syrus is so depressed?"

Andrew nodded with a sad look on his face. "Yeah. I don't understand why someone could be so bad towards his own brother."

"We can figure that out later." Michael spoke up. "But right now, we should go after Jaden, in case he would get himself in trouble."

"Good idea." And so, all three of them ran after Jaden.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jaden had reached the entrance to the Obelisk Blue boy's dorm. But as soon as he arrived, he was met with a welcome. And not a warm one. He was pushed to the ground by two of the obelisk students that barred his way.

"What's your problem?"

"I ain't got no problem." One of them answered. "But you sure will if you don't beat it."

"Yeah, Zane wouldn't waste his time with you." The other said. "You're still probably wet behind the ears from pre duel school."

"I am not." Jaden replied insulted.

He had just enough time to raise arm up in front of him as one of the Obelisk boys splashed him with a bucket of water. "Now you are." They both turned back, laughing at him.

"We're gonna duel." He said with determination.

* * *

Sometime later, Andrew, Michael, Chumley and Jaden had met up again. They walked towards the Slifer Red dorm while Jaden was drying his hair.

"That's so uncool." Michael commented when Jaden told them how he'd been treated at the Obelisk Blue dorm.

"So what're you gonna do now?" Chumley asked.

"Well I'll tell you what I'm not gonna do, and that's give up. I'll get Zane to duel me one way or another."

"You sure are confident, Jaden. I know you are a good duelist, but are you sure you can take on the best?" Andrew asked, as his Slifer friend opened the door to the dorm room.

The group stepped in and before Jaden could reply, they noticed Syrus was still in bed, wrapped up in his blanket.

"Sy, are you still in bed? Look, I know that you're down, but that's no excuse to act like some lazy slug. I mean, even Chumley got up today."

"Yeah, lousy bladder." Chumley added.

Jaden went to wake Syrus up. But when he pulled away the blanket, it turned out that Syrus was in fact not there. "Huh? Where did he go?"

"Hey, look. He left a note here on the desk." Michael spoke up as he held up the note he found.

"What's it say?" Andrew asked as he, Jaden and Chumley went next to him so they'd be able to read it.

 _Dear Jaden  
_ _I'm leaving Duel Academy.  
_ _Don't try and stop me. It's for the best.  
I would only be holding you back if I stayed._

Jaden grabbed the note, then crumpled it. "Sy's not going anywhere."

"Yeah, let's find him before he leaves the island." Andrew added.

"Yeah, let's go stop him… after dinner." Chumley said.

"Dude, your little friend is more important than food right now." Michael scolded.

"Michael is right. We're going now!" Jaden said.

"But today is grilled cheese day."

"If we don't hurry, it'll be Syrus' last day." At that, Jaden grabbed one of Chumley's sleeves and ran out the door with him along with Andrew and Michael.

* * *

The boys searched around the shoreline, looking for any sign of their friend.

"Syrus!" Jaden yelled. "Come on."

"Sy! It's grilled cheese day!"

"Where are you Syrus!?" Andrew yelled.

"Hey Syrus! Where did you go!"

"We missed you Sy! We'll miss dinner too if we don't find you before kitchen closes." Chumley commented as he tried to catch his breath.

* * *

Meanwhile, Syrus was already set to leave. Hidden in a small bay near the lighthouse, he had already made raft of logs and he was ready to leave.

"So long, Duel Academy." He muttered with a sad tone in his voice.

* * *

The four boys were still looking for Syrus. Jaden and Andrew stopped at the edge of a cliff. And then, their decks glowed with a white light. Both their duel spirits appeared beside them.

 _"Coo."_

"Oh it's you." Jaden said to his Winged Kuriboh.

"Is that you Phantom Magician?"

 _"Yes, partner. It's me."_

Chumley wheezed as he and Michael caught up to them. "So hungry… Starting to hear voices."

"What do you mean?" Michael asked, obviously confused by what Chumley just said.

"Can you find Syrus?" Andrew asked.

 _"Coo!"_ Kuriboh nodded

 _"Yes. Just_ _follow us."_ At that, the two duel spirits took off.

"Come on!" Jaden called out the others as he and Andrew followed them.

"First no grilled cheese and now I gotta run? Why me?" Chumley whined.

"Hey. You should be more worried about your friend than your stomach." Michael scolded. "So stop your complaining and keep moving."

* * *

Zane stood at his usual spot on the lighthouse dock, looking at the sunset. Hearing footsteps, he turned to see Alexis come up to him. And this time, Jenny was with her as well. He turned back to the sunset as the girls came to his side.

"So any new leads?" He asked.

Alexis shook her head. "I can't believe he's still gone. I keep looking for some sign. But it's like my brother just vanished into thin air."

"Don't give up. You'll find him."

Jenny placed a hand on her blonde friend's left shoulder. "He's right. Just keep trying and you find him someday."

"I hope so." Alexis looked at Zane. "Speaking of brothers Zane, I saw yours the other day."

"Oh _did_ you now?"

"Yeah, he lost at a practice duel with Jaden Yuki. Your name came up too… and not in a good way"

"The big, bad brother." Zane didn't even blinked at the news. "What? Does Jaden want to scold me now?"

"Actually, he wants to duel you." Jenny replied.

Before Zane could say anything else, they heard a voice from a distance...

"Stay back Jaden!"

All three of them looked in the direction the voice came from, and saw a small raft floating behind a couple of rocks, along with a certain light blue headed Slifer boy.

"It's Syrus!"

* * *

After running after the two duel spirits, the four boy found Syrus. When they did, he was on the raft and was pushing himself away from land. But Jaden ran to the edge of the water and jumped onto Syrus' makeshift craft. But the sudden imbalance caused it to break apart and dump the two boys into the water.

Syrus came to the surface, arms flailing. "Help me! I can't swim!"

"And you were about to raft out into the ocean? That makes sense." Jaden cried as Syrus wrapped his arms around his neck.

The two of them disappeared beneath the waves, with Kuriboh watching from above.

Andrew was about to jump in after them, when his spirit partner held an arm out for him to stop. _"There's no need for you to jump in. The water isn't even deep here."_

"Really?" Andrew asked.

"I'm coming!" Chumley ran by and jumped in the water. After the splash, he opened his eyes to see that he was halfway out of the water and halfway in. He felt the ground and blinked. "It's shallow."

"Guess we don't need to worry about drowning then." Michael commented.

Jaden and Syrus emerged from underneath the water. The spirits then faded away upon seeing their job done.

"Why are you trying to stop me Jaden?" Syrus asked as he rubbed his arm. "I stink. Please, just let me go. They'll assign you a new tag partner and you'll have a much better shot at winning the match."

"Sy that's your brother talking. Come on pal, you gotta believe in yourself."

"You gotta believe _me_. I'm a lost cause."

"He is right you know."

"Huh?" The five boys looked at where the new voice came from and saw three Obelisk students. Two of them being Alexis and Jenny, the third being a older boy that Syrus apparently recognized.

"Zane."

"So that's the school's top duelist." Jaden said.

"Is that Zane?" Andrew asked.

"Yup, the one and only." Michael answered.

"You're dropping out?" Zane asked his little brother.

"Well, yeah kinda."

Zane closed his eyes. "Well it's about time."

That made Syrus lower his head, feeling worse than he already did before. He turned around and made his way to some logs floating nearby from the destroyed raft.

Andrew gave Zane a small glare. "That was cold."

As for Jaden, he turned to his little friend. "He's wrong."

But Syrus started to cry a little. This made Jaden to glare at Zane. "You're his big brother. How can you say that?" He demanded.

"Because I know him." The Obelisk boy said simply. Alexis and Jenny gasped at the comment.

Jaden however, was still maintaining his same attitude towards him. "Yeah, I bet you think you know it all. But guess what, you don't. And I'm gonna prove it right now. Let's duel."

Syrus turned to his friend. "No, Jaden!"

"Duel a Slifer?" Zane thought out loud before smiling. "Sure, why not? After all, it's been a while since I went slumming."

"Then get your game on."

Jaden, he's good."

"I'm sure he is."  
 _'And I'm sure this duel will solve Sy's confidence problems, without hurting mine.'_

* * *

That night, after the sun set, Jaden and Zane, as well as the rest of the gang walked to the main dock, Jaden and Zane carrying duel disks.

"Duel!"

 **Jaden: 4000**

 **Zane. 4000**

Both duelists activated their duel disks and drew their starting hands.

"Aww man. My big brother taking on my best friend? There's no way that this could turn out good."

"Don't panic Syrus." Andrew said, trying to calm him down. "The duel is just about to start."

"Yeah. I'm sure Jaden knows what he's doing." Michael added.

"Okay… Now we find out what's going on with Sy and his bro and we find out…" Jaden smiled, barley containing his excitement. "… how I rank up the best. Here I come Zane." He drew his card. "First, I'm gonna summon Elemental HERO Avian in attack mode." The green hero of air did a backflip before landing on Jaden's field. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1000 LV: 3) "And I think I'll go ahead and throw down a facedown while I'm at it." Jaden finished as he inserted a card into one of his slots.

"That's all huh? Okay." Zane drew his card. "For my first move, I summon Cyber Dragon in attack mode." Everyone watched in amazement as a serpentine-dragon with a metallic body rose from the ground and curled up behind the number one duelist. ( **ATK: 2100** DEF: 1600 LV: 5)

"What!?" Jaden exclaimed. "How can you bring out a level 5 monster on your very first turn?"

"I can play my Cyber Dragon _because_ it's my first turn Jaden. With no monsters out, he requires no sacrifice. And now I'll play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your facedown card." A blue typhoon emerged from Zane's spell card and shattered Jaden's facedown card to pixels, causing the Slifer to raise his right arm for protection.

"That was fast."

"Not as fast as your life point meter will go down. Cyber Dragon, attack. Strident Blast!" The metallic dragon rose and let out a stream of fire, engulfing Avian completely.

 **Jaden: 4000-2900**

 _'Ah. I tried to warn him that Zane was good.'_ Syrus thought worriedly.

"I think Jaden made the mistake of playing a monster in attack mode and placing a facedown card on his first turn." Jenny commented.

"Yeah, I agree. That move is the oldest trick in the duel book." Michael said.

Zane continued his turn, as he played another card. "Next I activate the spell card Different Dimension Capsule." A blue, yellow and orange sarcophagus with a clock emblazoned in the center appeared out of the ground. "It allows me to pick any card from my deck. Then I simply place it in the capsule, and in two turns, I get to take it out and put it right into my hand." The capsule opened up, letting the holo-card inside and closing before sinking beneath the ground.

"Man that's gotta be the best card out of his entire deck. I can't wait to see what's gonna come outta there." Jaden said as he wiped the end of his nose.

 _'Well I can…'_ Syrus thought miserably. _'Cause it's not gonna be pretty.'_

"It's your move Jaden." Zane said.

 _'Yeah, and I'd better make it count. Cause I'm starting to get the feeling that not only is this guy as good as everyone says he is, he might even be better. But still, that doesn't mean…'_ Jaden smirked confidently. _'he's better than me.'_  
"All right, round two." He drew his next card. "And first I'll rock Polymerization. And next I'll roll out Elemental Heroes Sparkman and Clayman. And fuse them to create, Elemental HERO Thunder Giant!" The two named heroes disappeared into Polymerization's vortex and emerged as the yellow, giant electric hero. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 1500 LV: 6) "And since his special ability destroys monsters with less attack points than him, your Cyber Dragon… is vaporized!" The metallic dragon was struck by a huge bolt of lightning and was completely destroyed. "Yes! Looks like Thunder Giant just made the big man on campus get a little bit smaller. Wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, I would say it." Chumley agreed.

"And the best part is that since that blast was just Thunder Giant's special ability, I still get to use his attack. And seeing as you're now defenseless, I'm gonna use it directly on you." The giant hero gathered electricity in his hands and released it all at Zane. However, he didn't move at all. He just stood there calmly, as he lost most of his life points.

 **Zane: 4000-1600**

"You could at least kinda flinch." Jaden commented, as he inserted a card into a slot. "Oh well, maybe this facedown card will get to you later."

 _'Yeah… if Jaden lasts long enough to use it.'_ Syrus thought, turning to his brother.

"Wow. He's ice cold. He didn't even blink by taking damage from that last attack." Andrew commented.

"Nice moves kid. Of course, with my field now empty again, I can just throw out another Cyber Dragon." An identical metallic dragon appeared in front of Zane. "Or better yet two. I play Monster Reborn, and with just one monster in my graveyard, you can guess who's coming back." The first dragon appeared beside the second one. "But neither will be here long…" Zane paused before taking a card from his hand… Polymerization. "In present form. Dragons, unite!" He commanded as both dragons swirled together into a black void. "Now Cyber Twin Dragon, emerge!" From the dark void, a new monster appeared. It was a big metallic serpentine-dragon with two heads instead of one. Each head had a different circle of color. One yellow, and one blue. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 2100 LV: 8)

"Huh? Twin Dragon!?" Chumley exclaimed. "One was tough enough."

"Now my dragon can attack twice in a round, which means double the trouble for your monster and your life points. Twin Dragon, attack!" He commanded.

"Not so fast! Iv'e got a trap card out. A Hero Emerges! Now normally, you'd have to randomly pick one of the cards in my hand and if it was a monster, I'd get to summon it. But since I only have one card in my hand, let's just get right to it, shall we? Wroughtweiler, defense mode!" A large, black metal dog with a blue visor over its head appeared next to Thunder Giant in a defensive crouch. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 1200** LV: 3)

"You'll need him. Cyber Twin Dragon, Double Strident Blast!" After hearing Zane's command, the twin headed machine let out two separate blasts of energy, each one hitting the different monsters on Jaden's side of the field.

 **Jaden: 2900-2500**

"Glad you did that. Cuz when Wroughtweiler is destroyed, his special ability activates. It brings one Elemental HERO and one Polymerization card back from the graveyard and into my hand. And just when you thought you could probably stop worrying about them, huh Zane?"

"I don't worry." Zane said evenly.

This made Jaden smile. "Man, you're chill. Not worrying, not even flinching… you _are_ good!"

Zane smiled slightly. "You too, Jaden."

"Well at least he's being nice." Michael commented. Andrew and Jenny nodded.

Syrus was surprised by this. _'Whoa! Since when did Zane give props?'_

"Now where was I? Oh yeah." Jaden drew his next card. "I was about to summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman in attack mode." The white caped water hero appeared, water hose ready to fire. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And since Bubbleman is the only monster out on my field, I can use his special ability to draw two more cards to my hand."

The moment Jaden drew his two cards, his duel spirit appeared. _"Coo"_ He then looked at the cards he drew.

 _'Transcendent Wings and Winged Kuriboh. The cards I used to trash that Dragon Catapult Cannon. An evolved Winged Kuriboh would turn Zane's Cyber Twin Dragon into a pile of cyber junk. Then, its attack points would be dealt to him as damage. That'd be enough to drop his life points to zero and win the duel. But I can't summon any more monsters this round, so I'm just gonna have to wait until my next turn. Still, I won't have to wait until next turn to use another card.'_

"All right Zane. I play Polymerization and fuse my Elemental HERO Bubbleman with Elemental HERO Clayman!" The two heroes absorbed into the boac vortex. "Now, Elemental HERO Mudballman! Rise, in defense mode!" The new monster came out and kneeled down, protecting Jaden. Its body looked similar to Clayman, but it's main body and arms were round and bigger. The warrior also had Bubbleman's face. (ATK: 1900 **DEF: 3000** LV: 6)

"Lishus. Mudballman's got 3000 defense points. That Twin Dragon's attack won't get through to Jaden."

"And that might give Jaden some time to prepare a strategy and win the duel." Andrew added.

 _'I can't believe it. Jaden might actually win.'_ Syrus thought, stunned at how the duel went so far.

"Now give me your best shot Zane!" Jaden challenged.

"My best shot? You got it." Zane drew his card and something rose from the ground.

 _'Oh no.'_ Syrus thought.

Jaden recognized the object that appeared. _'The capsule.'_

"It's been two turns since I first activated Different Dimension Capsule. And now I can take the card I first put into it and add it to my hand." Zane took the card in question and the capsule then broke apart. "You played well, but not well enough."

"Hey, gimme what you got. I'm ready."

"I'm sure you are. A good duelist is ready for anything. And that means not just knowing how to use all of their cards, but knowing how to play them too. And you play your cards well Jaden."

 _'Knowing how to play your cards?'_ Syrus thought, as he was starting to understand what his brother was trying to tell him.

 _'That's a nice compliment. But even better advice. Hope Sy's listening.'_

And Indeed Syrus was listening what Zane said. ' _Of course. Knowing how to use a card and knowing how to play it are two totally different things. That's what Zane was trying to tell me all those years ago. I get it now.'_

"First, I'll activate this De-fusion card. It splits my monster back into two separate Cyber Dragons." The Twin Dragon disappeared and was replaced by the two original dragons. ( **ATK: 2100** DEF: 1600 LV: 5) x2 "Next, I'll activate the magic of Powerbond."

As soon as Syrus heard this, he gasped.

"With this spell card, I'm allowed to summon a machine type fusion monster. And with another Cyber Dragon in my hand as well, I can now fuse three of them together and create, the Cyber End Dragon." The dragons were surrounded by a flash of light. And then, in their place rose a different one. It had a body from which rose three different heads each attached to a long neck, a tail that ran from behind and two widespread wings coming fro its back. ( **ATK: 4000** DEF: 2800 LV: 10) "Plus its attack points are doubled because of Powerbond's effect." The monster in question roared from all its heads as its body unleashed electricity. ( **ATK: 4000-8000** )

"8000!?" Chumley exclaimed.

"That would be enough for a One Turn Kill!" Jenny added.

"And keep in mind, when Cyber End Dragon attacks, the difference between his attack points and your monsters defense points are dealt to you as damage."

Jaden's eyes widened and he made a lopsided grin.

"Just hang tough. If you can survive his attack, you can win for sure because Powerbond's nasty side effect."

"Chumley's right." Alexis said. "At the end of the turn Powerbond is used, the player who activated the card takes damage equal to their attacking monster's original attack points."

 _'Yeah. But that won't matter if you play it right.'_ Syrus thought, hearing his friends. _'And Zane has. I just wish it didn't have to be at Jaden's expense.'_

"Cyber End Dragon, attack Mudballman. Super Strident Blaze!" The powerful monster shot a beam of energy from its three heads that combined into one. It obliterated Jaden's defending monster and passed through him.

 **Jaden: 2500-0000**

After the blow, he fell to his knees, head hung low.

"Jaden, no!" Chumley yelled.

Alexis stared. "I can't believe it… he lost."

"It seems to be so." Jenny said.

"Nooo!" Syrus ran to his friend.

Jaden lifted his head as Syrus came to him, and smiled at the older Truesdale. "Thanks for a great duel Zane."

Zane smiled and turned back. He was about to walk away, but looked at his brother for a moment. They just stood there as if sharing a mental, mutual understanding of what just happened. Zane turned away and walked away, with Alexis and Jenny following after him.

"So Zane… what do you think?" Alexis asked.

"I think Syrus chose some good friends."

"No doubt about it." Jenny agreed.

The boys just stood there, watching Zane and the two Obelisk girls leave.

"Your brother's got some mad skills." Jaden commented.

"Well, at least I got the looks." Syrus replied, now having regained a cheerful attitude. All the other boys stared at him, speechless, and then began laughing. Syrus laughed too, before stopping. "What's funny?"

"Come on, let's go home and work on our decks." Jaden suggested. "And I say we arrange yours so you can finally use that Powerbond. How about it?"

"For sure. Now I know how to play it, not use it."

Chumley's stomach chose that moment to growl and let everyone know that it wasn't content. "Yeah, well do you know what I could use? A couple of grilled cheese sandwiches."

The four other boys' stomachs took Chumley's example of saying they weren't happy either.

"I suppose it's time for dinner." Andrew said.

"Yeah, definitely." Michael agreed. He then turned to the Slifers. "If you're going to prepare yourselves for your tag team match, then I hope you don't mind if I help you."

"Oh, really? You will help us?" Jaden asked.

Michael gave them a toothy grin. "Of course. It would be bad if they expel you, right? I expect to see you two outside your dorm tomorrow morning."

"Okay. See ya." And with that, the Slifers ran off back to their dorm.

"Ohh, we gotta run again?" Chumley complained as they left.

* * *

Next day, early in the morning, Michael was helping Jaden And Syrus to get ready for their tag duel. And right now, the two Slifers were standing outside the dorm, along with Chumley, Michael and Andrew. As soon as they met, Michael explained how he was going to help him. What he suggested was something surprising…

"A duel?" Both Jaden and Syrus asked.

"That's right. You two will team up in a duel against me. After all, in order to win your upcoming tag team match, you guys need to work together as a team. So, are you up to the challenge?" Michael asked as he held up his arm with a duel disk strapped on it.

Jaden was obviously excited by this. "Well I am. Let's show him what we got Syrus."

The little Slifer hesitated before nodding to him. "Yeah."

The three boys then activated their duel disks.

"So it's two against one, huh? This should be easy for Jaden and Syrus." Chumley said.

"Don't be so sure about that." Andrew replied. "Even if it is two against one, Michael should be able to give them much fight. I should know, since I dueled him myself."

The duelists inserted their decks into their duel disks.

"Are you guys ready?" Michael asked.

"Oh yeah." Jaden answered.

"Y-yeah." Syrus said.

"Well then…"

"Let's duel!"

 **Jaden & Syrus: 4000**

 **Michael: 4000**

"Okay, since this is a two-on-one match, none of us can attack on their first turn. Is that okay?" Michael asked, earning a nod from both of his opponents. "Good, then how about you take the first turn Jaden?"

"Don't mind if I do." The brown haired Slifer drew his sixth card. "First I'm gonna summon Elemental HERO Clayman in defense mode." The stone warrior rose in front Jaden before kneeling down. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4) "Then I'll throw down a facedown and end my turn."

"Okay then." Michael drew a card. "I think I'll start by summoning Sangan in defense mode." A small brown, furry monster with three yellow eyes two green arms and legs with claws appeared crouching on Michael's field. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 600** LV: 3) "Then I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"All right, watch this." Syrus drew his card and looked at his hand. "I um, I… summon Gyroid in defense mode." His blue cartoonish helicopter appeared in front of him. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1000** LV: 3) "Then I place one card facedown and that's all."

"Back to me then. I summon Witch of the Black Forest in attack mode." A purple haired woman with a a third eye, wearing a black robe appeared next to Sangan. ( **ATK: 1100** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Next I activate the spell card Double Summon. This lets me normal summon a monster a second time. Which means I can sacrifice my two monsters in order to summon Dark Horus." The two monsters were swallowed by black flames and then, a new monster stepped out of them. It was a giant bird like creature with a black, metallic body. It had arms and legs with claws, and a pair of wings. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 1800 LV: 8)

"3000 attack points?" Syrus asked disbelieved.

"Now _that's_ a monster. I can't wait to see it in action." Jaden said excited.

Michael smirked. "That's not all. Since my witch and Sangan were sent from the field to the graveyard, their special abilities activates. And I'll start with Sangan's ability. It lets me take a monster from my deck and add it to my hand, as long as that monster has up to 1500 attack points. I think I choose Witch's Apprentice." Michael explained as he held up a monster card with the picture of a woman dressed in blue with white wings and wielding a broomstick. "And now for my Witch's ability. It happens to be same as Sangan, except that the monster I get to add to my hand must be a monster with up 1500 defense points. And I think choose a monster you guys might remember." He said as he held up a monster card with the picture of a certain black and silver dragon.

"Dark Armed Dragon!"

"Aw man, that's the monster he used when Andrew dueled him."

"Hey, Andrew. How does that card work again?" Chumley asked.

"Well from starters, that dragon lets Michael destroy one card on the field by taking a dark attribute monster from his graveyard and remove it from play. Of course, in order to summon it, he need to make sure that there are exactly 3 dark monsters in his graveyard."

"So with Sangan and that witch, that makes…" Chumley said as he was counting the number of monsters in Michael's graveyard."…two?"

Andrew nodded. "That's right. Which means he only need one more monster before he can summon it. So even if Jaden and Syrus manage to get rid of Dark Horus, There's still another powerful monster they're going to face."

"Now then, which one of you will take the first blow?" Michael said, as he looked between his two opponents. After seven seconds of thinking, he made his decision. "Dark Horus, attack Syrus' Gyroid with Dark Flame Breath!" The powerful dragon spat a torrent of black fire that swallowed the helicopter creature entirely. Everyone, minus Michael, were worried about Syrus. But then, the black flames were suddenly swirling, like a tornado and continued until the flames were gone. All that was left was a whirlwind, which was created by, wait for it… the rotating helicopter blades on top of Gyroid's head.

"Huh? What happened?" Chumley asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Andrew asked with a smile. "Syrus's monster survived."

"That's right." Syrus replied. "Because Gyroid has a special ability. He can survive in battle once per turn."

Michael was actually impressed by this. "Well, looks like I underestimated your machines. Oh well, what's done is done." He then blinked when he noticed a face up trap card in front of Syrus. "What is that?"

"It's a trap card known as Supercharge. Since you attacked me while I had a 'roid' monster on the field, I was able to activate it. It lets me draw two cards from my deck." he explained as he drew two cards.

"Heh. Well you're going to need them if you and Jaden want to win this duel. I end my turn."

"That was a sweet move Syrus." Jaden complimented. "Good job."

"Uh, yeah. But there are better moves than that." Syrus said.

"Don't say that. It was a great move. We can win this if you keep up like that."

Syrus was starting to feel a little more confident. "Yeah, you're right."

Jaden grinned before focusing on the duel. "Speaking of moves, I think it's my move now." He drew a card. "And what do you know? I drew just what I needed, the spell card Polymerization. And I think I'll use it to fuse my Elemental HERO Clayman with Elemental HERO Burstinatrix to form, Elemental HERO Rampart Blaster." Clayman was sucked into a fusion vortex, along along with the red clad fire hero and came out as one. The new hero looked feminine and wore a red helmet, an armor resembling to Clayman, a red shield on the left arm and the right arm was a missile launcher. She kneeled down in front of Jaden. (ATK: 2000 **DEF: 2500** LV: 6)

"A monster with 2500 defense points, huh? That's an impressive defense. And speaking of defense, here's mine." Black flames shot up from the ground beside the bird like dragon. Once the flames faded, the Witch of the Black Forest was kneeling down right in front of Michael. (ATK: 1100 **DEF: 1200** LV: 4)

"What? Where did _she_ come from?" Syrus asked.

Michael chuckled. "From the graveyard of course. Guess I should have told you guys about Dark Horus' ability. Once per turn, I can summon a level four dark attribute monster from my graveyard when any of you activate a spell card during your main phase."

"Wow. That's a handy ability you got there." Jaden commented. "But it won't stop me from blasting you."

"Oh? And what would that mean?"

"Well, my Rampart Blaster has a sweet ability of her own. When she is in defense mode, she can cut her attack points in half and attack you directly."

"What? Seriously!?" Michael exclaimed.

The armored heroine shot a couple of missiles at Michael, who winced by the explosion.

 **Michael: 4000-3000**

"Whoa! Looks like Jaden took the first blood." Andrew commented.

Michael brushed off some dust from his uniform, before giving Jaden a smile. "Heh, not bad Jaden."

The brown haired Slifer smiled sheepishly. "Thanks, I do what I can. I think I'll end my turn."

"Okay then, here goes. I summon Witch's Apprentice in defense mode." The witch monster Michael revealed earlier flew down on her broomstick. (ATK: 550 **DEF: 500** LV: 2) "With this monster on the field, all dark monsters gain 500 attack points." The witch threw a pinch of powder in the air that empowered herself and the other monsters. (ATK: 550-1050) (ATK: 1100-1600) ( **ATK: 3000-3500** ) "And now I switch my Witch of the Black Forest into attack mode." The purple haired witch stood up. "And now I'll attack your Rampart Blaster with Dark Horus." The dragon spat another another torrent of flames.

"Not so fast! I play my facedown card, the spell card De-fusion! And I'll use it to split my Blaster back into Clayman and Burstinatrix." The heavy armored heroine separated into the two fusion materials. (ATK: 1200 **DEF: 800** LV: 3) (ATK: 800 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4)

"In that case, I'll focus my attack on your Clayman instead." And just like that, the stone warrior was destroyed by the black flames. "And now I'll have my Witch of the Black Forest attack your Burstinatrix." The purple haired woman chanted an ancient incantation which allowed her to gather magic energy in her third eye, before she shot a beam of magic energy at Burstinatrix. "And with that, I end my turn."

"Are you okay Jaden?" Syrus asked worriedly.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. Now it's your turn Syrus." Jaden said, while encouraging him.

"Okay. Here goes." He drew his next card and looked over his hand. _'Aww man. I don't have a monster that can defeat any of Michael's monster.'_ He then looked at the card he drew and smiled. _'But I might be able to do some damage at least.'_  
"All right! I summon Submarineroid in attack mode." The monster that appeared was a blue and yellow submarine with a cartoonish face. It was also holding a torpedo underneath it with its hands. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 1800 LV: 4)

"What's up with that monster?" Michael asked.

Syrus smirked. "Good question. My Submarineroid has a special ability. It can bypass your monsters and attack you directly."

Michael backed away a step. "Another direct attack!?"

"That's right. Go! Subterranean Sneak Attack!" The submarine dove under the ground and from there, something was headed towards Michael. Once the object reached its target, it exploded right at Michael's feet.

 **Michael: 3000-2200**

"And after it attacks, it switches to defense mode." Submarineroid surfaced in front of Syrus and crossed its arms. "Then I place two cards facedown and end my turn."

"Nice move Syrus." Jaden complimented.

"I agree." Michael replied, after coughing a little. "So far both of you managed to damage my life points without losing any of yours. I guess that means I need to get more serious. And I'll start with this." He drew a card. "I activate the field spell Mystic Plasma Zone." Dark clouds with lightning racing amongst them materialized above their heads. "Thanks to this, all dark monsters on the field gain 500 attack points, and lose 400 defense points." (ATK: 1050-1550 **DEF: 500-100** ) ( **ATK: 1600-2100** DEF: 1200-800) ( **ATK: 3500-4000** DEF: 1800-1400)

"Whoa! That Horus has 4000 attack points now!" Chumley said.

"And Jaden has no monsters on his field." Andrew replied. "Which means one attack will be enough to end this duel."

"You guys did well. But it seems you still got a ways to go. Dark Horus, attack!" The bird like creature was about to unleash another breath of flames. But then...

"Not so fast!" Syrus called out. "You triggered my trap card, No Entry. Thanks to this, all monsters on the field are switched from attack to defense mode. So your attack is cancelled out." And so, Dark Horus stopped itself and lowered its body a little, while the Witch of the Black Forest kneeled down.

"Nice work Syrus." Jaden complimented.

The light blue headed Slifer nodded to him before turning toward Michael. "And there's more. My trap card forces you to discard one card from your hand."

Michael shrugged before discarding one of his cards. "Okay, I guess that's all I can do. Your turn Jaden."

"All right then. Here goes." He drew his next card. "I summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman in attack mode." The familiar water hero appeared. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And as you know, I can draw two cards since he's the only card I have on my field." He drew his two cards." He drew two cards. "Sweetness. This is just what I needed. The equip spell Bubble Blaster." Bubbleman grabbed the blue bazooka like weapon that appeared. "This spell gives him 800 extra attack points." ( **ATK: 800-1600** ) But wait, there's more. I activate my own field spell, Skyscraper." He inserted the named card into his duel disk and tall city buildings appeared around the five boys. And the sky was no longer cloudy. "Now with your Mystic Plasma Zone gone, all your monsters loses some points." (ATK: 1550-1050 **DEF: 100-500** ) ( **ATK: 2100-1600** DEF: 800-1200) ( **ATK: 4000-3500** DEF: 1400-1800)

"Well, they may lose some attack points, but their defense points on the other hand are restored. So I'm afraid your Bubbleman won't be able to destroy my Dark Horus."

"Sorry to burst _your_ bubble, but that's not really true. You see, my Skyscraper has a sweet effect. If my Elemental HERO is weaker than any of your monsters, he gets 1000 extra attack points." ( **ATK: 1600-2600** )

"Lishus! With 2600 attack points, Bubbleman can destroy Dark Horus."

"Yup, and that's exactly what I'm gonna do. Now attack with Bombarding Bubble Barrage!" He fired off a stream of bubbles that blew up on contact with the bird like dragon. "Gotcha! And with that done, I'll throw down two facedowns and play Mirage of Nightmare. Then I'll call it a turn."

"Impressive, but this duel is far from over. I draw."

"Stop right there Michael. The effect of my Mirage card activates. Now I get to draw until I have four cards in my hand."

"That's good, but I don't think you guys will survive long enough to use them."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Syrus asked.

Michael smirked. "What I mean is that even though you guys defeated Dark Horus, I still have this card." He held up his Dark Armed Dragon card.

"Dark Armed Dragon? But you can only summon it if there are exactly three dark monsters in your graveyard. And so far, you only have Sangan and Dark Horus." Jaden stated.

"Not quite. It's true that I have Sangan and Dark Horus in my graveyard, but I also have another monster in there. And it's all thanks to Syrus' No Entry card. You remember what that card did, right?"

Jaden and Syrus widened their eyes as they remembered the time Syrus used that card.

* * *

 **Flashback**

"And there's more. My trap card forces you to discard one card from your hand."

Michael shrugged before discarding one of his cards.

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"Aw man. So the card you discarded was a monster?" Syrus asked with a panicked tone in his voice.

"That's right. Which means the number of dark monsters in my graveyard… is just the number I need to summon my beast. Come forth, Dark Armed Dragon!" The black and silver dragon rose on the field right behind Michael. ( **ATK: 2800-3300** DEF: 1000 LV: 7) "And I bet you guys remember its special ability. By removing a dark monster from my graveyard, I'm allowed to destroy one card on the field. And I'll start to remove my Dark Horus to destroy one of Jaden's facedown cards." The dragon aimed its tail at the facedown card right next to Jaden's Mirage of Nightmare and shot a spike from it.

"Stop right there! I won't let you destroy it, because I'm gonna play it right now. The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh! This card allows me to summon Winged Kuriboh from my deck. But wait, there's more. I play my other facedown, Emergency Provisions. This lets send other spell or trap cards to my graveyard and then I gain one thousand life points for each card. So I'll toss out Mirage of Nightmare _and_ The Flute of Summoning Kuriboh." The two named cards disappeared and Jaden was surrounded by a healing aura.

 **Jaden & Syrus: 4000-6000**

"Of course, just because my spell was sent to the graveyard, doesn't mean my furry friend won't join us." Jaden commented as Winged Kuriboh was summoned to the field. (ATK: 300 **DEF: 200** LV: 1)

"Winged Kuriboh. As I recall, that monster protects you from battle damage after being destroyed." Michael said. "In that case, I'll use my dragon's ability again to destroy your field spell." The dragon shot another spike at Jaden. After it exploded, his field spell tray popped open, causing all the buildings disappear.

"Uh oh. Without the field spell, Jaden's monster loses his extra points." Andrew commented. ( **ATK: 2600** **-1600** )

"And now I have one monster left in my graveyard, which means I can use my dragon's ability one more time. So, which card should I destroy?" Michael asked himself as he looked around on the field. Finally, he stopped when he glanced at Syrus' facedown card. "Ah. How about that mystery card of yours?"

Syrus widened his eyes at this.

"All right Dark Armed Dragon, destroy his facedown card." The dragon shot another spike and shattered the card to pixels. But then, to Michael's surprise, the pixels merged together and formed a face up trap card. "Huh? What happened?"

Syrus gave him a smile. "My trap card was activated. It's called Wonder Garage and this card can only be activated when it's destroyed. And when that happens, I can summon a level four or bellow roid monster from my hand. And I choose Decoyroid." The monster that appeared looked like a toy car. (ATK: 300 **DEF: 500** LV: 2)

"Oh. So you knew I would destroy your trap card? Pretty impressive. Well then, moving on. I switch my Witch's Apprentice to attack mode." The blue clad witch stood up." And now I activate the spell card Stop Defense. This lets me choose a monster on field and switch it to attack mode. And I think I choose Gyroid." The named machine monster stood up.

"Why did he choose Gyroid?" Chumley asked. "Syrus' Decoyroid has less attack points than him. He would totally cause so much damage by attacking that monster."

"That might be true." Andrew replied. "But Gyroid has a special ability, or did you forget? It can survive in battle once per turn. So by forcing it to attack mode, Michael will be able to cause even more damage by attacking it twice."

"Oh." Chumley's eyes widened. "I never even thought of that."

"Okay. Time to scrap some metal. Are your Gyroid ready for battle, Syrus? I know my Witch's Apprentice is."

"Not quite. You see, my Decoyroid has a special ability. As long as it remains on the field, all my other monsters are safe from your attacks."

"Is that so? All right, then I guess I'll take care of him first." The witch flew over the little car and threw another pinch of powder. The powder caused the little car to explode. "And now, I'll let my Dark Armed Dragon attack your Gyroid. Dark Dragon Talon Terror!" The giant dragon roared and clawed the helicopter. The attack caused Syrus to groan a bit.

 **Jaden & Syrus: 6000-3700**

"And now I activate my facedown card, Escape from the Dark Dimension. This lets me summon one of my dark monsters that's been remove from play. Which means I can bring back Dark Horus." A big, dark portal appeared, and out of it came the bird like creature. ( **ATK: 3000-3500** DEF: 1800 LV: 8)

"What? That monster again!?" Syrus exclaimed.

"That's right. And I believe he's ready for a rematch. Dark Horus, attack!" The dragon let out another stream of flames, engulfing Gyroid completely.

 **Jaden & Syrus: 3700-1200**

"I think I've caused enough battle damage for one turn, so I'll let my Witch of the Black Forest destroy Winged Kuriboh." The witch shot another beam of magic energy from her third eye and destroyed Jaden's duel spirit.

 _'Sorry Winged Kuriboh.'_ Jaden mentally said.

"And with that, I end my turn."

"Um Jaden?" Syrus asked nervously. "Any chance we can stop now?"

"No way Sy. A duel is not over until the last card is played. And I believe your cards are going to end this duel. Now show him what you got."

Syrus hesitated for a moment. But then he nodded and was about to draw his next card. _'Well, I hope I draw something good. Here goes.'_ He drew his card and looked at it. It was a strong trap card known as… _'Magic Cylinder. This card can take a monster's attack and send it back to the opponent. I can use it to make one of Michael's monsters to wipe out the rest of his life points.'_ He then had an insecure look on his face. _'But then again, he might be able too see through me and destroy my trap card. And it's not like I have anything useful in my hand._ _'_ He looked over his hand disappointed. He was about to give up, but then he noticed a certain monster card in his hand. _'Wait. Is that…'_ He smiled as he recognized that card. _'Yes. This might work.'_

Michael raised an eyebrow. _'I wonder what he drew.'_

"All right. First I summon Jetroid in attack mode." A red fighter jet with the same cartoonish look appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "The I place a card facedown and end my turn."

Michael drew his next card. "Ya know, I don't know wether you're bluffing. But I won't take any chances." He inserted a card into his duel disk. "I activate the spell card Foolish Burial. With this I can take a monster card from my deck and send it to the graveyard." He explained as he took a card from his and placed it in the graveyard slot.

"Huh? Why would he do that?" Chumley wondered.

"There's only one reason I can think of." Andrew said. "His Dark Armed Dragon."

"Got that right. By removing that monster from my graveyard, I can use his ability again." Michael's card ejected from his duel disk and the dragon shot another spike from its tail, destroying Syrus' facedown. Michael was surprised when he noticed the identity of that card. "Polymerization? So you _were_ bluffing."

Syrus scratched at his right cheek. "Um…"

"Well, that's to bad, cuz with 1200 attack points, your monster won't be able to protect your life points. It's over. Dark Horus, attack his Jetroid with Dark Flame Breath!" The dragon unleashed one more stream of flames. The attack was about to hit Jetroid. But then...

"Not so fast! You activated Jetriod's ability."

Michael was startled by this. "What? His ability?"

Syrus smirked. "That's right. When he's attacked, I can activate a trap card directly from my hand."

"Your hand?"

"You heard me. And the card I choose is this, Magic Cylinder." A pair of red cylinders appeared between his monster and Dark Horus. "This card can take your attack and send it right back at you."

Everyone were surprised, but Michael was more surprised than the rest of the gang. "No way!"

"Awesome!" Jaden cheered.

The attack was absorbed into one cylinder. And then, the flames came out of the other and burned Michael's field, wiping out the rest of his life points.

 **Michael: 2200-0000**

As soon as the holograms disappeared, Syrus fell down to his knees, feeling relieved. "Aw man, that was a close one."

He was then approached by Jaden. "That was a sweet move Syrus. I knew you had some skills."

"Yeah. I can't believe we actually won."

"That was well played guys." Andrew said as he walked up to them smiling. "I think you two are more than ready for the tag team match." He then turned towards Michael. "What do you think?"

The Obelisk boy walked up to them and gave a toothy grin. "I couldn't agree more. There's no doubt that you guys can pull it off, regardless who your opponents will be."

"Yeah, totally." Chumley agreed.

Jaden balled up one of his hands into a fist. "Well guys, if that's the case, then…" He then raised his fist to the air. "Get your game on!"

* * *

 **Finally done. Until next time.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Family Business and Rituals**

On a dark and foggy night, two men were on a rowboat. One of them was standing at the back, steering the craft. The other one was sitting at the front, staring at the direction at hand. The man at the front was muscular. He was wearing a white muscle shirt and black pants. And his face was identical to a certain Slifer student.

"Put your back on it. I wanna reach Academy Island by daybreak." He said.

"Yes sir." The other man replied in a strained voice.

 _'I won't have my son wasting one more slacking day at that school. Chumley's coming home.'_

* * *

Later on, Andrew was relaxing in his dorm room. He was laying on his bed, taking a nap. He was snoozing peacefully, that is until he heard the sound of a knock on the door.

"Hm? Who could that be?" He asked himself, almost with a sleepy tone. He got up from bed, went to the door and opened it. The person on the other side was none other than Bastion. "Oh, hey Bastion. What brings you here?"

"Well, I was working on some dueling formulas for my deck. And then, when I was just leaving my room to take a break, one of our fellow Ra yellow students asked me to give you this message." The intellectual duelist explained as he gave him a piece of paper.

"Oh really?" Andrew asked as he took it. "Let's see here." He then began reading it.

 _Andrew Wilson  
Ever since I saw your duel during the promotion exam,  
I couldn't help but feel eager to see your skills close at hand.  
That's why I challenge you to a duel.  
If you accept my challenge, meet me at the docks within thirty minutes._

 _Signed: Shiori Koizumi_

"A duel, huh? That sounds interesting. Do you know anything about this Shiori person?"

Bastion put a hand on his chin as he was trying to remember anything about him. "Let's see, Shiori is a first year student. I don't have much info about him so far. But I hear he duels with a deck full of ritual monsters."

This caught Andrew's interest. "A ritual duelist, huh? It's not everyday you meet a duelist like that."

"Indeed. Ritual summoning requires a specific ritual spell card, as well as the ritual monster, not to mention monsters to sacrifice. So building a ritual themed deck takes a lot of formulating and strategizing."

"Then he must have worked really hard to build his deck." Andrew went to his desk and grabbed his duel disk. "Let's see how I can handle him."

"Good luck, then. Something tells me that you're going to need it."

"Thanks Bastion." And so, Andrew headed out.

* * *

It took Andrew almost twenty minutes before he made it to the docks. He looked around to find any sign of his challenger. He kept searching and was about to give up. But then, he finally noticed someone standing near the water. The person was wearing a Ra yellow jacket, a white shirt and black pants. He also seemed to wear a black scarf with flame designs around his neck. He had light blonde hair with his bangs covering his left eye. His eye color was chocolate brown.

"Hello there. Are you Shiori Koizumi?"

The blonde headed boy nodded and gave Andrew a smile. "Yup, that's me. So I take it you accept my challenge."

"Yeah. Mostly because I wanted to see how well I can do against someone with a ritual deck."

Shiori raised one eyebrow. "How did you know I'm a ritual duelist?"

"Well, Bastion told me about that. But that's all he knew. He didn't seem to know anything specific about your ritual deck."

Shiroi let out a laugh. "Hahaha. Oh really? I'm surprised that he doesn't know so much about me."

Andrew let out a chuckle. "I guess Bastion didn't have so much time to study you." He then activated his duel disk. "Anyway, how about we start our duel?"

The blonde haired Ra gave him a nod of approval and activated his own duel disk. "With pleasure."

"Let's duel!"

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Shiori: 4000**

"As the challenger, I'll start." Shiori drew. "First I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands in attack mode." A human like figure with grayish skin and arms all over its body appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "And now I activate his special ability. Since he was summoned, I'm allowed to take any ritual monster or spell card from my deck and add it to my hand. And I choose the ritual spell card known as Synthesis Spell. And now I activate the spell card Painful Choice. This lets me take five cards from my deck and show them to you. Then you get to choose one of them. The card you choose goes to my hand, and then I have to discard the other cards."

The images of five normal monsters appeared above him. The first one was Armored Zombie. The second one was Battle Footballer. The middle one was Beast of Talwar. The fourth one was Blazing Inpachi. And the fifth one was Earthbound Spirit.

Andrew was really curious about this. Why would Shiori send four monsters to his graveyard just like that? Was he planning to use a card to summon them? Or maybe he wants to use them for something else. Andrew looked at one certain card.

 _'Beast of Talwar. A level six monster with 2400 attack points. That monster is pretty strong. Why would Shiori use the effect of Painful Choice on that card? Is he expecting me to send it to the graveyard so he can_ _resurrect it?'_ Andrew hummed before shaking his head. _'Nah, that can't be it. If that would be the case, he could just use a card like Foolish Burial. It would be stupid to get rid of four cards, just to bring out one monster._ _'_ But then, Andrews eyes widened. _'Wait a minute. Could this move be related to his ritual monsters somehow? If so, then what could his plan be?'_ He thought about it for a moment, but couldn't figure out something. So he decided to make his choice ' _Hmm. Whatever his plan is, I will probably find out, no matter which card I choose.'_

"Alright, I choose Beast of Talwar."

"Okay then." Shiori replied as he kept the card Andrew chose and put the rest in his grave. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"I draw." Andrew drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Heat in attack mode." The white and red armored fire warrior appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "This monster gains 200 attack points for every Elemental HERO I have on the field. And the only Elemental Hero here, is Heat himself." ( **ATK: 1600-1800** ) "Now attack his Manju with Burning Fist!" The hero ignited one of his fists and dashed towards Shiori's monster.

"Not so fast! I activate the trap card Sakuretsu Armor." Shiori announced as his facedown card was revealed. "With this I can destroy your attacking monster."

"Not if I can help it!" Andrew declared, as he inserted a card into his duel disk. And then, a spell card appeared in front of him. "I activate the spell card Mask Change II."

"Mask Change II?" Shiori wondered. "I've heard about your other 'Change' cards, but not that one."

"Then allow me to explain its effect. First I have to discard one card from my hand." Andrew explained while discarding one of his cards. "Then I get to choose any monster I have on the field and send it to my graveyard. After that, I'm allowed to summon a Masked HERO with the same attribute, but higher level than the monster had when it was on the field. So now Heat, time to transform!" The fire hero was surrounded by a pillar of light. "I summon Masked HERO Goka." The light faded and revealed a warrior clad in a red and black outfit with red spiky shoulder pads and a mask that had blue eye plates. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF: 1800 LV: 6)

Shiori whistled in fascination. "That was a nice move."

"Thanks. And before I tell you about his power, let me tell you about the card I discarded." As soon as those words left Andrew's mouth, the spirit of a certain black armored heroine appeared. "It was Elemental HERO Shadow Mist. And since she was sent to the graveyard, I can activate her special ability. I'm allowed to take a HERO monster from my deck and add it to my hand. And I choose Stratos." He revealed the turbine winged hero card. "And now there is Goka's ability. For every HERO monster in my graveyard, he gains 100 attack points. So with Heat and Shadow Mist in there, that makes 200 extra attack points." ( **ATK: 2200-2400** )

"Oh boy." Shiori commented nervously.

"Masked HERO Goka, attack his Manju with Inferno Kick!" The masked hero jumped into the air and ignited his right foot. And then, he landed on Manju's chest with an explosive kick.

 **Shiori: 4000-3000**

The hero then jumped back to his owner's side on the field. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

Shiori smiled. "Impressive. But let's see how you handle this." He drew his next card and smirked when he saw what he got. "All right, time to perform a ritual. I activate the spell card Synthesis Spell."

Andrew gasped. "The ritual spell card."

"That's right. And this card requires monsters with a total level of 6 or higher as sacrifice. So I sacrifice my level six monsters Beast of Talwar." The green demon with blue wings and twin swords appeared for a moment before being swallowed by blue flames. "And now I summon the big bad Lycanthrope." Jumping out of the flames, a dark-blue skinned werewolf appeared. It was wearing torn, blue pants and had remnants of test tubes stuck to his chest. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 1800 LV: 6)

"A monster with 2400 attack points. That's the same as my Goka."

"That's why I saved this equip spell for this moment, Black Pendant." A dark purple pendant in a gold casing appeared around the werewolf's neck. "Thanks to this card, Lycanthrope gains 500 attack points." ( **ATK: 2400-2900** )

Andrew held up his duel disk in a defensive way, preparing himself for taking a hit.

"Lycanthrope, attack his Goka!" The werewolf charged at Goka. Then it pounced on its prey and tore him apart with its claws.

 **Andrew: 4000-3500**

Andrew winced a little. "Okay, that hurt."

Shiori smirked. "Well, I'm afraid you're about to suffer even more. Know why? Because Lycanthrope's special ability activates. Whenever he deals battle damage to you, you take an additional 200 points of damage for every normal monster in my graveyard."

Andrew's eyes widened. "So that's what your Painful Choice card was for."

"That's right. Four monsters were sent to my grave by its effect. And then, I sacrificed my Beast of Talwar for my ritual spell. Therefore, I have five normal monsters in there. Go, Lycanthrope!" Andrew braced himself as Lycanthrope raised one of its arms and clawed him.

 **Andrew: 3500-2500**

Andrew winced again, but recovered quickly. "Well, that was a nice move, but now I can activate my trap card, Hero Signal. This lets me summon a level 4 or lower Elemental HERO from my hand or deck. And I choose Elemental HERO Bubbleman." The blue armored water hero kneeled down in front of him. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 1200** LV: 4) "If he is the only card on my field when he's summoned, I'm allowed to draw two cards." Andrew explained as he drew cards from his deck.

Shiori nodded. "Okay then. I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Here goes." Andrew looked at the card he drew and smiled. "I hope you're ready, because I'm about to take down your doggy. I activate the spell card Mask Change."

"What? Another Masked hero?"

"Yep. And I'll summon it by sending my Bubbleman to the graveyard." The said warrior disappeared in a wave of water. "I summon Masked HERO Acid." The dark blue armored hero appeared with his gun at hand. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2100 LV: 8) "And next I activate his special ability. As soon as he's summoned to the field, all your spells and traps are destroyed." The warrior fired a stream of acid. Lycanthrope took a direct hit and the Black Pendant shattered to pixels. ( **ATK: 2900-2400** ) The same thing happened to Shiori's facedown card. "And since Acid successfully destroyed your cards, your monster loses 300 attack points." The werewolf groaned as it struggled to stay on its feet. ( **ATK: 2400-2100** )

Shiori frowned for a moment before smirking. "Well, you might be able to take down Lycanthrope, but not without paying the price. You see, when Black Pendant is destroyed, you take 500 points of damage." As he explained, a dark purple cloud came out of Shiori's graveyard slot, before it flew over to Andrew's side of the field and assaulted him.

 **Andrew: 2500-2000**

"That's fine, because that won't change my plans. I summon Elemental HERO Sparkman." The gold and blue electric hero rose next to the masked hero. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "Now Acid, attack his Lycanthrope with Acid Blast!" The masked hero let loose another shot that tore through the werewolf. It let out a howl of pain before it shattered into pixels.

 **Shiori: 3000-2500**

"And now I'll have my Sparkman attack you directly. Go, Static Shockwave!" Sparkman shot a stream of electricity from one of his hands at Shiori.

 **Shiori: 2500-0900**

"I place one card facedown and end my turn."

Shiori brushed off some dust. "Well, so far you haven't been disappointing. You really are good."

Andrew nodded. "Thanks. And so are you. Although, it seems that you're in a bad situation right now."

Shiori smirked. "Heh, don't worry. You won't be able to defeat me that easily. You may have defeated one ritual monster, but there are still other monsters in my deck. And I'm about to unleash them. My move." He drew his next card. "I play Graceful Charity. This lets me draw three cards from my deck, as long as I discard two cards from my hand." He drew three cards and discarded two. "And now I activate the spell, Card of Demise. Now I get to draw until I have five cards in my hand. But after five turns, my hand goes to the graveyard." He drew a new hand and was pleased when he saw what he got. "Okay, the stage is set. I summon Sonic Bird in attack mode." A bald eagle appeared in the air and landed on the ground. It was wearing glasses and had a jet pack on its back. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "And since this monster was summoned, I'm allowed to take a ritual spell card from my deck and add it to my hand. I choose the card known as Emblem of the Awakening. And I think I'll use it right away."

"Uh oh."

"For this spell, I have to sacrifice monsters with a total level of four or higher. Luckily, my Sonic Bird is the only monster I need." A small emblem with three different colors ( **green, red and blue** ) appeared above the eagle. The monster then changed into light particles which were then absorbed by the emblem. "I summon Cú Chulainn the Awakened." The emblem unleashed a light that was so bright, that Andrew covered his eyes. When the light died down, he opened his eyes and saw the emblem around the neck of a new monster. It was a warrior girded in heavy armor, his entire stance with haunches pulled back. He was holding a finely-crafted spear in his hand. ( **ATK: 500** DEF: 1000 LV: 4)

"Hm?" Andrew was actually expecting something more than a monster with 500 attack points. But then again, that monster must have a strong ability.

"You're probably curious about Cú Chulainn's capacity, right? Well, just like my Lycanthrope, he is a monster that can benefit from normal monsters."

Andrew was a little surprised. He knew that monster had some ability, but never thought it was something similar to Lycanthrope. "So what can he do?"

"I'll tell you. Once per turn, I can take a normal monster from my graveyard and remove it from play. And then that monster's attack points are added to my Cú Chulainn." Shiori explained as he took out a card from the graveyard slot. "And I choose Tri-Horned Dragon." The monster card he held up had the picture of a blue dragon with three horns sprouting from its head and four spikes protruding from its back. (ATK: 2850 DEF: 2350 LV:8)

Andrew raised an eyebrow. "Wait a minute, when did you send that…" He stopped at mid sentence when he suddenly remembered a certain spell card Shiori used earlier. "Graceful Charity."

Shiori nodded. "Bingo. My dragon was one of the cards I discarded when I played that spell. Now Cú Chulainn, power up!" The spirit of the dragon rose from the ground, before it flew into the warrior's emblem. He roared when he was surrounded by a strengthening aura. ( **ATK: 500-3350** ) "Now attack his Acid!" The warrior ran towards the masked hero and was about to stab him with his spear.

"I activate the trap card Waboku." Andrew's facedown card revealed itself and created a barrier. It simply blocked Cú Chulainn's attack. "Thanks to this, all battle damage I take this turn becomes zero, and my monsters can't be destroyed in battle."

Shiori frowned, before inserting two cards into his duel disk. "I place two cards and end my turn. And just so you know, my Chulainn's power boost will last until my next turn."

 _'Sounds like a problematic effect.'_ Andrew thought. He then looked at his deck. _'I better get something good or I'm toast.'_ He drew his next card and looked at it. _'This might give me something.'_  
"I activate the spell card Pot of Greed. So now I can draw two cards." He drew his two cards and looked at them. Andrew smiled when he saw what he got. "Then I activate the spell card Mask Charge. With this I can take a HERO monster and a Change card from my graveyard and add them to my hand. So I'll take back Shadow Mist and Mask Change II."

"Here it comes." Shiori muttered to himself.

"Now I activate the spell card Mask Change II. I discard one card from my hand so my Sparkman can transform." Andrew discarded one card. A light was starting to surround Sparkman. But then...

"I activate my trap!" Shiori exclaimed, as one of his facedown cards were revealed. "It's called Riryoku Field. Since you activated a spell card that targets exactly 1 monster, I can use this card to negate it." Andrew's spell card was then destroyed and the light died down.

"In that case, I summon Elemental HERO Stratos in Defense mode." The turbine winged hero rose beside Sparkman and kneeled down. (ATK: 1800 **DEF: 300** LV: 4) "And thanks to his special ability, I can take a HERO monster from my deck and add it to my hand." Andrew explained as he took out Blazeman from his deck. "Then I switch Sparkman and Acid to defense mode and end my turn." The two named heroes kneeled down.

"My turn." Shiori declared. "And now my Cú Chulainn's attack strength goes back to normal. ( **ATK: 3350-500** ) "I summon a second Manju of the Ten Thousand hands." A copy of the creature with many arms appeared. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "And once again, I can take a ritual card from my deck. The card I choose is the spell card Black Illusion Ritual." He explained as held up the named card. "Next I activate Cú Chulainn's ability and remove another monster to increase his strength. And I think I choose Blazing Inpachi." The monster Cú Chulainn absorbed this time was a wooden figure burning in flames. It had number 18 engraved on its chest. ( **ATK: 500-2350** ) "Now attack is Acid!" The warrior dashed towards the masked hero.

"I don't think so!" Andrew cried, as a card ejected from his duel disk. And then, a certain mechanical turtle appeared on the field and created an electric barrier, blocking Cú Chulainn's attack.

"What the…?" Shiori stared at this, taken back.

"Since Electromagnetic Turtle was in my graveyard, I was able to end your battle phase by removing him from play."

The ritual duelist stared at him for a moment, wondering how he managed to send that monster to the graveyard. Then he figured it out. "You used Mask Change II to send it to the graveyard, didn't you?"

Andrew nodded. "Yup, that's correct."

Shiori chuckled. "Well, you certainly know how to keep yourself in the game. I end my turn."

"My move." Andrew drew. "I switch my Acid back to attack mode." The named monster stood up. "Now Acid, attack his Manju!" The masked hero fired let loose another shot.

"Stop right there! I activate the trap card Draining Shield." A green dome appeared around Shiori's monster, blocking the incoming attack. "Sorry Andrew, but thanks to my trap card, your attack is cancelled out. But that's not all. It also gives me life points equal to your monster's attack points.

 **Shiori: 0900-3500**

Andrew frowned. "I end my turn."

"Back to me then." Shiori drew. ( **ATK: 2350-500** ) He looked at the card and smirked and placed it in his hand. "Alright, time to kick things up a bit." He took another card from his hand and held it up. "I activate the spell card Black Illusion Ritual."

Andrew widened his eyes. "Another ritual summoning? So soon?"

"Yes, and this spell lets me summon a certain ritual monster, in exchange for monsters with a total level of 1 or higher. And I think I'll sacrifice my Manju." The named monster disappeared and was replaced by a dark blue circle. Out of the circle came a dark blue monster with grey veins running all over it. Two rumored looking pieces raised up from the front of the monster and its single, golden eye looked straight at Andrew. ( **ATK: 0** DEF: 0 LV: 1) "Say hello to Relinquished."

Andrew was really shocked by this. "Relinquished? You mean Pegasus wasn't the only one with that card?"

"Yeah. Many people would believe that. But the truth is a few copies of it were released. And I was lucky enough to get my hands on this one. But now, let's get back to business. I activate Relinquished's special ability. Once per turn, I can turn one of your monsters into an equip spell card and attach it to Relinquished. And then, that monster's attack and defense points are transferred to him. And the monster I choose is Masked HERO Acid." There was a grey circle on the center of the ritual monster that opened up and a vacuum effect started that sucked in Andrew's monster. And then, the upper body of the masked hero appeared on one of the armor pieces. ( **ATK: 0-2600** DEF: 0-2100)

"And once again, I activate Cú Chulainn's ability. I remove Beast of Talwar to increase his strength." The winged demon appeared and was absorbed into Cú Chulainn's emblem. ( **ATK: 500-2900** ) "Now attack his Sparkman!" The warrior dashed towards the electric hero and stabbed him with his spear. "Relinquished, attack his Stratos!" The eye of the strange looking monster shot a beam of light energy and destroyed the turbine winged hero. "And now, I'll end my turn."

"Alright. I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman." The red armored hero with flaming head appeared. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "When this monster is summoned, I'm allowed to take a Polymerization from my deck and add it to my hand. And I'll use it right now so I can fuse Blazeman with Shadow Mist." The two named heroes fused together. "I summon Elemental HERO Ezcuridao." The dark armored warrior with shadow wings came out of the fusion vortex. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 2000 LV: 8)

"And since Shadow Mist was sent to the graveyard, I can take another HERO from my deck and add it to my hand. And I choose Elemental HERO Ocean." Andrew held up the card he took from his deck. "And then there is Escuridao's special ability. She gains 100 attack points for every Elemental HERO in my graveyard. And right now, there are six heroes, so that gives her 600 attack points." The transparent forms of Andrew's heroes faded into Ezcuridao, giving her a boost. ( **ATK: 2500-3100** )

"3100 attack points!" Shiori exclaimed.

"And that's enough for her to take down any one of your monsters. And I'll start with your Cú Chulainn. Go Escuridao! Attack with Night Claw Slash!" Escuridao flew forward and slashed the spear wielding warrior with her claws.

 **Shiori: 3500-3300**

"I hope you're ready, because your Relinquished is next."

Shiori smirked confidently. "I don't think you'll be able to take him down during your next turn." He then drew his next card. "Now I play my own Pot of Greed. So I get two cards." He looked at the two cards and was pleased when he noticed one of them. "I place one card face down and then I activate the equip spell Mage Power." The spell card appeared and a blue aura surrounded Relinquished. "Thanks to this spell, my monster gains 500 attack and defense points for every spell and trap card on my side on the field, including itself. And since your Masked HERO is attached to Relinquished like an equip spell, he counts as a spell card as well." ( **ATK: 2600-4100** DEF: 2100-3600) "Now attack his Escuridao!" It shot another beam of light energy and destroyed the dark armored hero.

 **Andrew: 2000-1000**

"And I'll finish it here." Shiori declared.

"My turn." Andrew drew. He looked at the card he drew. _'This card might be useful.'_  
I summon Elemental HERO Ocean in attack mode." The blue-skinned water hero stood up and held up his trident, ready for battle. **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1200 LV 4) "Then I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." A facedown card appeared right behind Ocean.

Shiori narrowed his eyes. _'A monster in attack mode and a facedown card? I guess Andrew wants me to attack so he can use his facedown card.'_ He smirked. _'There's no way I'm gonna fall for that.'_ He drew a card and inserted it into his duel disk. "I activate the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon. This lets me destroy one spell or trap card on the field. There goes for your facedown card." A typhoon flew towards Andrew's side of the field. Shiori was still smirking… until he heard Andrew chuckling.

"Thank you. That's exactly what I was hoping for."

"What!?"

"I activate the trap card Blast with Chain." Andrew's trap activated, making several sticks of dynamite, held together by a long chain appear in front of Ocean. "When this card is activated, it becomes an equip card that gives the equipped monster 500 attack points." ( **ATK: 1500-2000** )

"So? That won't stop me from destroying it." The typhoon blew away the trap card. ( **ATK: 2000-1500** )

"That's true, but my trap card has a second effect. Whenever it's destroyed by a card effect while equipped, one card on the field is automatically destroyed."

Shiori gasped. "Destroyed!?"

"Yup. And I think I'll destroy your Relinquished." The water hero picked up the bomb and threw it. It exploded on Relinquished and destroyed it.

"Damn!" Shiori cursed. "You got me."

"I sure did. So, what now?"

Shiori sighed. "I end my turn." He held a disappointed expression, but inside, he was confident. _'Little does he know, I have my trap card Attack and Receive on the field. As soon as I take damage, I'll use it to deal 700 points of damage. And for every "Attack and Receive" card in my graveyard, this card deals an additional 300 points of damage. And I was able to discard one copy of it, thanks to my Graceful Charity. You fought well, Andrew. But not good enough I'm afraid.'_

"I draw." Andrew drew. "And now I activate Ocean's special ability; Once per turn, I can take a HERO monster from my field or graveyard and return it to my hand. The one I choose is Stratos, and I think I'll summon him to the field in attack mode." The turbine winged appeared beside Ocean. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 300 LV: 4) "And now I activate his second ability. He can destroy spell and trap cards up to the number of other HERO monsters I control. And you know what means, don't you?"

Shiori was starting to panic. "My facedown…" He watched in horror as Stratos unleashed a cyclone, thanks to his wings, and destroyed his trap card.

"And now you're defenseless. Now my heroes, attack him directly." The two heroes dashed towards Shiori. Stratos punched him, and Ocean stabbed him with his trident.

 **Shiori: 3300-0000**

Shiori fell to his knees as the holograms were shut off. Andrew walked over to him and held out his hand.

"That was a great duel Shiori. You almost got me there." He said while smiling.

Shiori smiled and took his hand, allowing him to help him up. "Thanks. I actually thought I could win. But still, I'm not disappointed. You're really good. I hope we can duel again someday."

"Sure, just let me know you're ready."

"Thanks. Until next time." Shiori said and left, but not before giving Andrew a thumbs up and a toothy grin.

Andrew watched as he walked away. "Well, guess I got a new rival then. It seems my life is getting more interesting." He said to himself, then set off for the Ra dorm.

On the way, he noticed Syrus a distance away, running with panicked look on his face.

"Hm? Syrus?"

"Jaden! Where are you Jaden?" Syrus called out.

"Hey, Syrus! What's up?"

The blue-headed Slifer student turned and saw Andrew. "Oh, Andrew?" He ran up to him. "Please, tell me you have seen Jaden somewhere." He pleaded.

Andrew didn't like the worried tone in Syrus' voice. "No, I haven't. Why are you asking? Did something happened?"

Syrus lowered his head. "Well, you see…"

* * *

As for Jaden, he was relaxing on the ground, under a tree near school. "This the life. Green grass, some warm sunshine, my own private..."

"JADEN!"

"Huh?"Jaden sat up and saw Syrus and Andrew running in his direction. "Maybe not so private."

"Jaden, you've gotta come quick. Something terrible has happened." Syrus told him.

"Traps test. You flunked, huh?"

"Actually, I got a B." Syrus said proudly, but then got serious again. "But… but that's not the reason we came here, Jaden. It's Chumley. His dad just showed up!"

"Yeah? So what? He raid our fridge?"

"No Jaden!" Andrew replied. "He came here to force Chumley to drop out!"

Jaden's eyes widened at Syrus' words. "Drop out!? No way! Not our buddy!"

* * *

The three boys ran to the Slifer dorm where a group of other Slifer students where standing outside professor Banner's room, looking inside to see what was happening. They looked inside. They could see Banner sitting at a small table on the floor. They could also see another person sitting across from him. It was a man with a nose and hair like Chumley, but with a more muscular body.

"No way. That's his dad?" Jaden asked.

"Looks like a bodybuilder, huh." Syrus commented.

"Yeah." Andrew agreed.

"Though, carrying around Chumley as a kid, you'd kind of have to be."

The boys quieted down as the two adults continued talking.

"I mean, don't get me wrong," Mr Huffington was saying. "If Chumley was any good at dueling it'd be one thing. But clearly he's not, he's wasting his time here. It's time for him to give up dueling and come home."

"I see your point. Chumley is a bit uh…" He was started chuckling, while choosing his words in front of the father.

"He's a bit dense, you can say that. That's why I want him to come home and join the family business." He slammed his fist on the table while talking. "The hot sauce business." He paused for a moment before asking Banner. "You do like hot sauce?"

"Oh yes. I love it. I can't get enough of it." Banner said, trying be on the man's good side.

"Loud and clear. Here..." Huffington said as he reached down and placed a big bottle on the table. It was wrapped in red paper with a picture of red chili fruits. "Free sample."

"Oh no, I really couldn't." Banner politely tried to refuse.

"Oh yes, you could." Mr Huffington glared at the teacher. "Come on. Just think of it as a goodbye gift from me and Chumley."

"So he's really dropping?" Syrus asked his friends.

"No. Not if we can help it Syrus." Jaden replied. "Come on, we've gotta talk some sense into him." The three boys ran up to their room (Well, except that Andrew is a Ra yellow student, but you know what I mean.). "Chumley." Jaden called out as he opened the door. When they got in, they saw Chumley on his knees packing thing into his backpack. "Hey, what are you doing Chumley?"

"What does it look like?" He asked harshly.

"It looks like you're giving up. Like you're taking everything you worked for and throwing it away. Like you're abandoning all your dreams. All your dueling goals… And you don't even care!" But as Jaden grabbed Chumley, the big Slifer turned around and to everyone's surprise, tears were running from his eyes. Jaden stood back upon seeing his friend in this state. "Chumley?"

"He does care." Syrus realized.

"No. I got something in my eye okay? Both of them. Now just leave me alone, would ya?" Chumley attempted to rub his tears away on his sleeve. "I mean, it's not like I'm worth wasting your time on anyhow. At least according to my dad I'm not. But he doesn't know, I really could be a champion duelist. Because I have a special power that I haven't told anybody. Sometimes, duel monsters talk to me."

"You talk to duel monsters cards? Then you're just like us." Andrew said, being surprised that Chumley could hear duel spirits too. "Did you tell this to your dad, Chumley?"

"Of cours not. Everything to him is just hot sauce, hot sauce, hot sauce."

Jaden had enough of this and grabbed Chumley's arm. "Come on." Jaden dragged him out the door with Syrus and Andrew following them.

* * *

The boys went to see Chancellor Sheppard to explain the situation. Mr Huffington and Banner were also there to hear them out. "So there you have it…" Jaden finished. "Chumley can't be allowed to drop out. He's got a gift."

"Oh sure, a gift for eating grilled cheese." Chumley looked down at hearing his dad's comment.

Andrew glared at the man and clenched one of his hands. _'What kind of father treats his son like that?'_

"Look, I know Chumley, I'm his roommate." Jaden vouched. "Not to mention his pal.

"Yeah, me too. Uh, what Jaden said." Syrus added.

"And even though I'm not a Slifer anymore, I'm his friend too." Andrew added in.

"Look boys," Sheppard spoke. "I respect you sticking up for your friend here. But I'm afraid that this is a personal matter. It's not your business."

"That's right, it's family business." Mr Huffington added.

"But sir…" Jaden tried to speak, but the muscular man interrupted him.

"Which is why I propose a duel."

"Huh?" Chumley was surprised by this proposal.

"That's right. Father versus son. If you have this special gift your friends say, you should beat me easily. And I'll let you stay at the academy. But, if you lose, then, you come home."

Chumley's look changed to one of determination. "It's a deal."

"Good. Then let's duel first thing tomorrow morning. How does that sound chancellor?"

"So be it. Tomorrow morning it will be decided. Will Chumley stay, or go home?"

* * *

"Haha. See guys, What'd I tell ya?" Jaden asked as the four boys left the main building, accompanied by professor Banner. "It was a piece of cake to convince Chumley's dad to let him stay at the academy."

"Jaden, we just convinced him to a duel. Chumley still has to win if he's going to stay." Syrus pointed out.

"Yeah, but come on. Chumley's dad doesn't know how to duel. He's an amateur. Am I right?"

Andrew didn't seem to agree with Jaden's opinion. "I don't know about that. I mean, we just met this man. Save from his hot sauce business, we don't know anything about him. He might be an expert duelist."

"Nah. I bet he's been thinking about hot sauce so much that it comes out of his ears."

"Uh hum. Actually, he's been state duel champion three years in a row." Banner stated. "Why do you think he was so insistent Chumley go to this school. He wanted his son to be like him. Ohh wait until you see his deck. As you all know, he earns a living with his special hot sauce. Well, his deck reflects the kick of his sauce. It can take you out in one turn, like a spicy buffalo wing takes you out in one bite." The boys gasped. "And all the morning after."

"So Chumley accepted knowing all of that?" Jaden asked. The boys turned towards their friend who had an expression of grim determination. "Chumley, he must really want to stay here, huh?" Jaden wrapped one arm around Syrus' neck and the other around Chumley's neck. "Now come on. Let's go get your deck ready Chum."

* * *

Later on, Andrew headed to his dorm room to get what he needed to help Chumley prepare. He opened one of his drawers and took a little wooden box, filled with leftover cards. Then he left the room and headed straight to the Slifer red dorm. On the way, he heard someone called out to him.

"Hey Andrew."

He turned to see a familiar Obelisk blue girl. "Oh, hey Jenny."

"Where are you going?" She asked, walking to him.

"I'm heading to the Slifer dorm to help Chumley prepare for a duel tomorrow."

Jenny was a little surprised by this. "Chumley? What for?"

Andrew seemed unease for a moment, but then sighed, thinking it would be best to tell her. "Okay, this is what happened…"

And so, he explained to her about Chumley and his father. Once he finished, Jenny was really shocked.

"No way. So if he loses, he'll be forced to leave the academy?"

"Yeah, that's right." Andrew replied with a sad look, before it changed to one of seriousness. "So that's why I'm going to help him. If he's going to defeat his dad, Chumley must be prepared." He then headed to the Slifer dorm. "There's no way I'll let that man force his son join the family business."

As Andrew walked away, Jenny was standing on the place. She looked down toward the ground, with her eyes covered by a shadow. And then… she gritted her teeth with anger.

 _'Forced into family business, against their own will… No-one deserves that.'_

* * *

Back at the Slifer dorm, Professor Banner and Mr Huffington were sitting down at table eating dinner, which included a large bottle of hot sauce.

"Ah, come on. Ha! Just a little bit more hot sauce. You can handle it." Mr Huffington said as he poured some in Banner's cup.

"You are so very generous." He replied politely.

"My pleasure. And your cat's from the look of it." Mr Huffington said as he looked at Pharaoh who was slurping hot saucef from his dish.

"Yes, good thing I stocked up on kitty litter."

"Oh, speaking of, nature calls." He stood up and walked out the door.

As soon as he left the room, he heard talking from the slifer trio's dorm room.

* * *

"What's with Chumley's cards?" Jaden asked as he, Syrus, and Andrew helped the latter to rebuild his deck. "They're all koalas."

"Koalas are my favorite, duh!" Chumley snapped.

"Don't get me wrong Chumley, koalas are cool, but can you win with them?"

"Here, try this card out." Syrus handed Chumley a card with a picture of a green kangaroo dressed like a boxer on it. "I got it a while back but never used it. Maybe you can."

"Wow Sy. Really?"

"Yeah, if you join it with one of your koalas, you'll have yourself a deck from down under."

Chumley strained to keep himself from crying.

"And since your deck is full of beast type monsters, I got something useful for you." Andrew said as he took a card out from his wooden box. He showed it to him, revealing a spell card. It had a picture of fangs covered by something toxically green.

"You would really just give me a card like that?"

Andrew nodded while smiling. "Of course I would. I can't run this card in my deck anyway. Besides, we're friends and that's what friends do to each other."

Chumley smiled and took the card.

Andrew scratched the back at the back of his head while having an ashamed look on his face. "Although, I might be a little busy tomorrow, so I don't think I'll be there to cheer you on."

Jaden placed a hand on his shoulder. "Nah, it's cool. I think your card is all the support Chumley need from you." And then, he realized something. "Oh. And I got something for you too. It could really come in handy." Jaden went to his bed and fished a card from it.

"Huh?" Chumley blinked, being curious about what card Jaden had.

* * *

Outside, Mr Huffington heard the boys talk, contemplating on what he just heard.

* * *

The next morning, Jaden and Syrus joined professor Banner and the Huffingtons inside a practice room. It kind of looked like a ninja dojo.

"All right. Chumley, Mr Huffington, you both know what the stakes are for this match." Professor Banner said. "If Chumley wins, he gets to stay at school. However, if he loses the duel, well then, he has to go back home."

"That's right." Mr Huffington agreed. "Or my hot sauce won't chap your lips."

Banner turned to look at Chumley. "Chumley, you sure you are okay with this? Can you handle going to work for your dad's hot sauce company? Chapped lips."

"I can handle anything right now." Chumley said as he narrowed his eyes.

Banner nodded his head. "Fine. Then without further ado, let's begin the duel gentlemen."

"All right." Chumley activated his duel disk.

"Go time." His dad did the same.

 **Chumley: 4000**

 **Mr Huffington: 4000**

"Here I come." Chumley announced as he drew a card. "Totally lishus. First I'll place Des Koala in attack mode." A koala with brown and white fur appeared in front of him. It had leaves in its mouth and a belly pouch. ( **ATK: 1100** DEF: 1800 LV: 4)

Chumley's dad saw the mistake he made. "In attack mode? Don't you know that if you first placed him in defense mode first, and then flipped him into attack mode later, Des Koala's special ability would have caused me 400 points of damage for every card in my hand?"

"Duh, of course I knew that…" Chumley then slumped his shoulders. "At least now I do."

"Now it's too late. You should have taken your studies more seriously. Maybe now you'll learn." His drew a card.

"Watch him closely children…" Banner said to Jaden and Syrus. "You may learn something."

"Seeing as how he's a state champ, I don't doubt it." Jaden said. "I just hope it's not that one turn finisher he's known for."

Syrus gulped.

"Ready son?"

"Uh oh."

"Here I come. I summon Dizzy Tiger in attack mode." A humanoid tiger a pair of wife beaters, khaki pants, sunglasses and holding a bottle of hot sauce appeared. It started to move around uncontrollably, like it was drunk or something. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 600 LV: 4)

Chumley was obviously a little confused by the monster's state. "A Dizzy… Tiger?"

"Weird." Jaden commented.

"So, why is he dizzy?"

"It looks like too much hot sauce. But that doesn't mean that beast doesn't have some bite left."

"Dizzy Tiger attack. Hot Sauce Slash!" The humanoid tiger lunged forward and swung its paw at Des Koala. The strike then continued on to Chumley, leaving a red mist with a strong smell.

"Oh. That's hot sauce all right." Chumley said covering his mouth.

 **Chumley: 4000-3300**

"Oh boy. That stinks." Jaden said.

"But his attack sure didn't." Syrus said.

Back on its owner's field, Dizzy Tiger still had hard time standing straight. "Hahahahaha. At this rate we'll be home before dinner. Which will be hot sauce I might add."

"I'll tell what you can do with your hot sauce!" Chumley snapped.

"Hey, keep your cool there Chumley."

"It's nice that he's standing up for himself in front of his dad though." Syrus commented. Upon receiving a look from Mr Huffington, Syrus ducked behind Jaden.

"Chum, fight back."

"I know." Chumley said exasperated as he drew a card. "Lishus. Yeah this might just work." He then took a card from his hand. "All right, I activate the spell card Koala March. With it I can summon a koala monster back from my graveyard, as long as it's a level four or bellow." Des Koala reappeared from the graveyard. ( **ATK: 1100** DEF: 1800 LV: 4)

"Hey look Jaden, Chumley has his Des koala on the field again."

"That's true. I just hope he can work it better around this time around."

"Not it, them." Banner corrected. "Koala March also lets him summon another monster from his hand, if it's the same as the one he brought back from the graveyard. And if I know Chumley…"

"I summon another Des Koala." A second brown and white koala appeared beside the first one. ( **ATK: 1100** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "I sacrifice both of them to summon Big Koala." The two beast type monsters left the field and were replaced by a giant blue-furred koala without the leaves in its pouch and mouth. ( **ATK: 2700** DEF: 2000 LV: 7)

"Not bad." Mr Huffington commented.

"No duh not bad. Now Big Koala, Attack Dizzy Tiger!" Big Koala carved towards the tiger on all fours. "Take Down from Down Under!" The giant koala picked up the tiger and slammed it into the ground.

 **Mr Huffington: 4000-3100**

"Dizzy Tiger's gonzo." Chumley announced.

"All right! That's the way you do it." Jaden said as he and Syrus cheered.

"So, you want to fight? All right, let's fight." Mr H. drew a card. "I call Dizzy Angel." The angel-like monster was a man with long blonde hair wearing a white suit and a black hat. Like Dizzy Tiger, he was holding a hot sauce bottle and couldn't stand straight without wobbling. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 600 LV: 4)

"He reeks of hot sauce too." Chumley commented. "And from how he can hardly stand up, I'd say he's had his fair share of it." And then he heard a strange sound from the angel. _'Whoa. I'm starting to hear those weird monster voices again.'_

"Now I activate the spell card, Hot Sauce Bottle." A large red bottle appeared in front of Mr Huffington's monster who stared at it. "And I also activate the spell card, Flipping the Table." The ground underneath the dueling field became a low-leg table. Mr Huffington flipped it, sending both monsters into the air. Chumley's Big Koala fell to the ground and was destroyed. His dad laughed. "What a card! It destroys everything on my field… everything except for itself that is. And then the same number of cards on your field are also destroyed. Now you're left defenseless."

"That must be his special one strike attack." Syrus said.

"Yeah, and I don't know if I like it. It totally resets the field. It's hardly even fair." Jaden commented.

"That's just like you!" Chumley argued with his dad. "You don't like something so you trash it."

Mr Huffington laughed at his son's words. "I didn't get to be a hot sauce tycoon by being nice son." And then for some reason, Dizzy Angel was back, acting as weird as earlier.

"Hey! Why is Angel back? Wasn't he destroyed by Flipping the Table?"

"Wishful thinking. But you see, Dizzy Angel has a special ability. He can't be destroyed by the effect of Flipping the Table."

"What!? Oh great. Now this guy's gonna keep weird me out."

"It gets worse. Because when my on Hot Sauce Bottle is destroyed and sent to the graveyard, its special ability activates. That causes you 500 points of damage." A red smoke washed over Chumley's field, making him cover his mouth.

"Eww, is that what stinks too?"

 **Chumley: 3300-2800**

"But I'm not done yet. Dizzy Angel, go in for your attack! Hot Sauce Sizzler!" The angel fired a gush of hot sauce from his bottle.

 **Chumley: 2800-1000**

"Chumley!" Jaden called out.

"I just can't win."

 _'Don't worry son. This will be over soon.'_ Mr H thought. "Make your move why don't ya?"

"But make sure you think it through Chumley," Banner advised. "Otherwise you'll be back home bottling hot sauce."

"Duh! I know." Chumley drew a card. "I activate the spell card Pot of Greed. With it I can draw two cards from my deck." He drew his two cards, getting the one he got from Syrus, and the one he got from Andrew. _'Hey, it's these cards.'_

* * *

 **Flashback**

"Here, try this card out." Syrus handed Chumley a card with a picture of a green kangaroo dressed like a boxer on it. "I got it a while back but never used it. Maybe you can."

"Wow Sy. Really?"

"Yeah, if you join it with one of your koalas, you'll have yourself a deck from down under."

"And since your deck is full of beast type monsters, I got something useful for you." Andrew said as he took a card out from his wooden box. He showed it to him, revealing a spell card. It had a picture of fangs covered by something toxically green.

"You would really just give me a card like that?"

Andrew nodded while smiling. "Of course I would. I can't run this card in my deck anyway. Besides, we're friends and that's what friends do to each other."

Chumley smiled and took the card.

 **Flashback** **end**

* * *

 _'Well, I guess now's as good a time as any.'_  
"First I activate the spell card Silent Doom. With it I'm allowed to summon one monster back to the field from the graveyard. And I choose Big Koala." His big blue koala monster appeared in defense mode. (ATK: 2700 **DEF: 2000** LV: 7) _'He won't kick me out without a fight.'_  
"Next I activate the spell card Poison Fangs." The continuous spell he got from Andrew appeared behind Big Koala. "And I activate Polymerization. And fuse Big Koala with the Des Kangaroo in my hand..." The named kangaroo appeared before jumping into the air and merged with the giant koala. "To create Master of Oz." The fusion monster was a creature with a kangaroo-like body, but with a koala-like face. It was wearing red boxing gloves, boots, a purple vest, a championship belt on its shoulder and carried weights in its front pouch. ( **ATK: 4200** DEF: 3700 LV: 9)

 _'Hm. Like I didn't see that coming.'_ Mr Huffington thought as recalled what he learned while spying on the boys.

* * *

 **Flashback**

"Oh hey. And I got something for you too. It could really come in handy." Jaden said as held out the Master of Oz card. "After all, with 4200 attack points, it packs a pretty good wallop."

"You would really just give such a powerful card Jaden?"

"Yeah, of course I would. Like Andrew said, we're buddies. And that's what buddies do for each other. Besides, you belong here with us."

Chumley stared at the card for a moment before he smiled. His dad has been looking in on them and listening at the same time.

 **Flashback end**

* * *

Back to the present, a small smile formed on Mr Huffington's face as he remembered how much the other boys cared about his son.

"Now go Oz! Outback Attack!" The Master of Oz reared back one of his fists and swung forward. The punch hit Dizzy Angel so hard that it flew back and exploded in a shower of pixels.

 **Mr Huffington: 3300-0700**

And then, Chumley's continuous spell card started to glow. "And now the effect of Poison Fangs activates. Since you took battle damage from a beast type monster, you take another 500 points of damage." The spell card shot a beam of energy, and pushed Mr Huffington back a little.

 **Mr Huffington: 0700-0200**

"What a shock!" Jaden commented.

"I'm still here." Mr H said.

"Yeah? So bring it." Chumley challenged.

"Aw man, Chum almost had him there. This is close." Syrus said.

"Yeah, this one is going right down to the wire."

"Chumley, you fought a good duel, but you've lost." Mr H declared.

"What are you talking?" Chumley demanded. "Master of Oz has 4200 attack points."

"It doesn't matter. You forget, with one flip of the table, he'll be gone."

"That card doesn't scare me dad. You forget, I know its weakness."

"Flipping the Table has a weakness?" Jaden asked.

"That's right. Once you use it, you can't summon up a monster. And that means, you'll be defenseless dad. I'll win, you'll lose. Ha!"

"Not bad son." Mr Huffington said eerily calm. "You've accurately spotted the card's weak spot. I'm very impressed with you. But still, it won't change things. See, with what I have planned, so what if I'm defenseless. Two Hot Sauce Bottles!" Two more red bottles appeared on the field.

"Wait. If one bottle's destroyed, he takes 500 points of damage. So if two are destroyed…"

"It'll be bad." Jaden said, finishing Syrus' math.

"I activate Flipping the Table." Mr Huffington up the table again, destroying his Hot Sauce Bottles and Chumley's Master of Oz in the process." That's two bottles down, so that means, 1000 points of damage to you!" The familiar red scented mist appeared around Chumley again, making him cough and lose the rest of his life points.

 **Chumley: 1000-0000**

"I can't believe it. He lost." Syrus said.

"Poor Chumley." Jaden was as down as Syrus.

Chumley fell down to his knees, defeated.

* * *

After returning to their room, Chumley started to pack his backpack for the trip home. His friends to convince him to do otherwise. Even Andrew and Jenny who heard about the outcome of the duel tried to convince him.

"Chumley come on. You don't really have to go, do you?" Syrus asked.

"Duh! I made a promise I've gotta keep it."

"Then this is really it?" Syrus looked on the verge of crying.

"You're a good duelist Chumley." Jaden said.

"Good luck." Andrew stretched out his hand to their friend.

Chumley grabbed his offered hand. "Same to you." Syrus and Chumley were both crying. "Anyway I better get going now. There's a lot of hot sauce out there that needs bottling."

"And I'm sure you'll bottle it great." Jaden said.

"Come on, we'll walk with you." Jenny offered.

* * *

The students walked to the place where they were to meet up with Professor Banner and Chumley's father. But when they arrived, only Banner was there.

"Hey professor, where's my dad?"

"Your father had to go. Something went wrong with the milds. But he wrote you this and wanted me to give it to you."

Chumley took the note that Banner passed him. He unfolded it and read it out loud. "Dear son, there's more to school than just your studies. And while you may not have made great grades there, you've made some great friends…" Tears of happiness dropped from his eyes. "That's reason enough for you to stay." He crumpled the paper. "DAD!" He ran to the edge of a cliff andsaw that his father was riding away from the island in a small boat. He cupped his hands together. "DADDY! I won't let you down! I won't let any of you down! From here on out, I'm gonna make you proud of me! My family and my friends!"

His friends smiled at seeing him like this. Jenny was especially glad for him.

 _'It seems Chumley's father is a good-hearted and reasonable man after all.'_ She then lowered her head. _'Which is more than I can say about my father.'_

* * *

As for Mr Huffington and the man steering the boat...

"Come on, put your back into it! There's a case of hot sauce in it for ya if we get back before dawn."

* * *

 **And another chapter finished. As you just saw, Chumley used a card he got from Andrew. I thought that would um… 'spice' things up a bit. I hope you like this chapter. Until next time.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Tag Team Trial**

The time has come. Today was the day for Jaden and Syrus' tag team duel. And if they wanted to stay at the academy, they had to win. Dr Crowler was walking through the hallway of Duel Academy.

 _'Just look at them.'_ He thought to himself as he went by a bunch of Slifer red students. _'Pathetic Slifers littering the campus like vermin. The hallowed halls of my Duel Academy are for the elite, not the lame. Not Jaden Yuki.'_ An image of a grinning Jaden popped in Crowler's mind. Unable to contain himself he burst out yelling. "THAT SLIFER SLACKER HAS MADE A FOOL OF ME FOR LONG ENOUGH!" His outburst was loud enough to make the slifer students around run away frightened. "But soon he will pay most dearly for it. Soon with what I have planned, _he_ will be the fool."

"Dr Crowler." Someone called out.

He turned around to see Chazz walking up to him. "Ah, Chazz. How may I be of service?"

"You can put me in the tag team duel against Jaden and Syrus, that's how."

"You?"

"That's right. This time I know I can beat him and send him packing."

"Sorry, but you'll be sitting this duel out Chazz."

"Huh?"

"Don't get me wrong, your skills are admirable, but I'm afraid I'm not taking any chances on this one. If Jaden loses here, he'll be expelled from the Duel Academy once and for all. Which is why he'll be facing the greatest tag duelists in the world." With that, Crowler left, leaving a confused Chazz by himself.

* * *

At the Slifer red dorm, Jaden and Syrus were in their room with Chumley, going over their decks.

"How can you guys be so calm?" Chumley asked.

"Ha. What's not to calm about?" Jaden retorted. "It's just another duel, another day. No problem, right Sy?"

"But duh, Jaden, it's not just another duel. It's a tag duel and if you lose, you'll be on the next bus out of here."

"Hello, Chumley. That's totally why we're not gonna lose today. And Chumley, we're on an island, bus?"

"Whatevs, you ought to give me your meal cards just in case."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Jaden said sarcastically.

"Well someone's got to eat your grilled cheeses if you go."

Syrus stared at the Powerbond card. _'Chumley may have a point. Last time I dueled, in a one-on-one duel that is, I was awful, just like my big brother always told me I was. If we're going to stay at the academy, I'm just gonna have to do and not let anything get in my head, especially Zane. After all, the last time I let him get to me, Jaden really let me have it…'_

* * *

 **Flashback**

"Sy that's your brother talking. Come on pal, you gotta believe in yourself."

 **Flashback**

* * *

 _'Belive in myself.'_ Syrus thought after thinking back to when Jaden said those words. _'That's exactly what I'm gonna do. Believe in myself, believe in myself, believe in myself.'_ He then stood up. "I BELIEVE IN MYSELF, JADEN!"

Jaden looked at his tag partner with a strange look. "Hey uh… that's great."

Chumley watched as his friends walked towards the door. "well, good luck you guys. I really want you to win the match."

"More than you want the grilled cheeses?" Jaden asked, looking at his friend, amazed.

"I'd rather have you guys as friends, than extra grilled cheeses."

"I think I might cry." Jaden said, breaking into a grin.

"See ya soon, Chumley!" Syrus said, before heading out with Jaden.

 _'Yeah, I hope so.'_ Chumley thought gloomily, watching his friends leave.

* * *

At the main dueling stadium, all the students, teachers and the Chancellor took their seats waiting for the tag duel to start.

 **"The tag duel will begin in just a few moments. And remember, these are the test conditions. This is a sudden expulsion match"**

Bastion and Andrew were sitting in their own seats as the announcement was made. "A tad harsh I say."

"No joke." They looked to the side and saw Alexis and Jenny sitting down next to them. "You're Bastion Misawa, a friend of Jaden's right?" Alexis asked.

"I suppose you could say that. And you're Alexis Rhodes correct? And you are?" He asked as he looked at Jenny.

"Jenny." She said simply. "And we're the reason why they're in this mess. They were helping _us_ at the abandoned dorm."

"I see."

"But now if there's anyone in need of help, it's them." Alexis said. "Have you heard? Rumor is Crowler arranged for professionals to duel them. Tag team legends. Duelists that worked with the creator of Duel Monsters himself."

"Professionals?" Andrew asked. "Jeez, I knew that Crowler want them to get expelled, but that's crazy."

 **"Send in the accused. Syrus Truesdale and Jaden Yuki."**

Chazz slammed his foot in the back of the chair in front of him in anger as he watched the named duelists enter the arena. The noise was loud enough for nearby Obelisks look at him and for the two Slifers hear it. "Whoa! The acoustics in here are great." Jaden commented.

"Yeah… You think maybe they'd count the echo as your tag partner.?" Syrus asked.

"For the last time Syrus, you're my tag partner." Jaden said as he ruffled Syrus' hair a little.

Syrus laughed and pulled away from him. "Doesn't hurt to ask though."

As they made their way to the middle, Chazz was barley preventing himself from bursting out in rage. "You Slifer slackers. It should be me taking you out. But I guess as long as someone does it…"

Not too far from him, Michael was sitting by himself, looking down at Jaden and Syrus. _'Alright you guys. It's time for you to show everyone what you're made of.'_

Back down at the arena, Jaden noticed another friendly person coming into the arena. "Hey look, Chumley made it here!"

"Just barley." Syrus added.

"I thought running… was healthy." Chumley said trying to catch his breath.

Higher up in the stands, Zane was staring down Syrus. _'Well little brother, time to see if you belong here, or on the next plane out of here.'_

 _'Zane!'_ Syrus thought upon seeing the look at him. He walked after Jaden with his mantra of _'Gotta believe in myself, gotta_ _believe in myself, gotta believe in myself, gotta believe in myself.'_

As the two of them arrived on the plat form, Crowler raised a hand in the air and spoke to the crowd. "Now without further ado, allow me to introduce our guest tag team duo!" Two men jumped onto the stage. They did a series of flips and then landed on the side of the platform opposite of Jaden and Syrus. They were almost identical like two cherries. They were bald in Chinese robes, one wearing orange and the other green. They had Chinese symbols on their foreheads.

"What is this?" The two Slifers asked.

"The Paradox Brothers!" Crowler announced in reply.

"Salutations you fools." the orange one greeted.

"Hope you're ready to duel." The green one rhymed.

"Uhh, I've never heard of these guys." Jaden said.

"Me neither." Syrus admitted. "Maybe this tag match won't be so bad."

"Perhaps." Crowler spoke up. "After all, They haven't dueled for ages and their last opponent was a child. I believe it he went by the name of 'Yugi' something."

"The King of Games?" Syrus asked disbelieved.

The Paradox Brothers Smirked confidently.

"I've studied these guys." Alexis mention "They're some kind of dueling mercenaries, not to mention the best tag team duelists in the world. This is hardly fair."

"I think that was Crowler's point. Statistically speaking, I put Jaden's odds at winning at one in fifty."

"Hey! You should have faith in your friends, not placing bets on them." Jenny commented with an angry tone in her voice.

"Yeah, anything can happen in a duel, so they can win this." Andrew agreed. "So don't say such negative things."

"Sorry."

"Hey Chumley!" Chazz called out to the big Slifer. "Looks like there's going to be a whole lot more in your dorm. Your friends are toast."

"Not Lishus." Chumley said.

Zane was as stoic as ever as he looked at the opponents.

"Enough with the pleasantries." Para said.

"And now on with the duel." Dox filled in.

"We didn't come here to talk..."

"We came…"

"To destroy you!" The both of them said simultaneously.

"Crowler!" Sheppard called out as he arrived right behind the twins. "Don't you think this is a bit much?"

"No, not at all!" Crowler replied. "Jaden and Syrus broke a big time rule, so they should face big time opponents. Besides, we can't send the brothers back now, they've come so far."

"What does that matter? You're the one paying their travel costs." Crowler face vaulted at this. "Jaden, I'll leave it up to you, son."

"These guys couldn't even beat male pattern baldness, so there's no way they're gonna be able to beat us." Jaden said jokingly.

"Oh how wonderfully clever." Crowler said, not amused. He then stood up and spoke up. "Duelists, prepare for battle." The Slifers and their opponents readied themselves.

Jaden noticed the nervous expression Syrus' face. "Breath Sy. We can do this."

The latter smiled sheepishly.

"The rules for this tag team duel are really quite simple." Crowler began explaining. "There is no sharing of strategy, no sharing of advise and no sharing of any card that is not yet in play. But you may use what's on your partner's field. Understood?"

"Yeah." The duelists replied.

"Then duel!" Crowler hopped off the stage.

 **Jaden & Syrus: 8000**

 **The Paradox Brothers: 8000**

"Get your games on!" Jaden said as the four duelists activated their duel disks and drew their starting cards. He looked at Syrus who nodded.

"Here goes." He announced as he drew a card. "First I'm gonna summon Gyroid in attack mode." Syrus' small, blue cartoonish helicopter appeared in front of him. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1000 LV: 3)

"You must be joking." Para commented as he began his turn. "I am surprised that that thing even has an attack mode. This on the other hand, Jirai Gumo." A large brown spider appeared opposite of the little helicopter. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF: 100 LV: 4)

"What? An overgrown bug?" Jaden remarked and began his turn. "That's nothing that my deck can't squash. Elemental HERO Burstinatrix, defense mode!" The red clad fire heroine kneeled down before Jaden. (ATK: 1200 **DEF: 800** LV: 3)

"The best defense you fool, is a strong offense." Dox said starting his turn. "Kaiser Sea Horse, attack mode!" A blue and purple aquatic warrior with a double ended spear and a shield stood up on Dox's field. ( **ATK: 1700** DEF: 1650 LV: 4)

 _'Alright. If I know dueling like I think I know dueling, these guys are sure to attack next.'_ Syrus thought. But to his surprise, the brothers had another plan in mind.

"I choose to play a spell card from my hand…" Dox announced. "Tribute Doll! To activate it, I must sacrifice one monster from our side of the field. Good thing my brother is so generous with his." Para gave him a nod to go ahead. "Farewell Jirai Gumo." Black vines emerged from the spell card and crushed the big spider. "Now I am allowed to summon a level seven monster this turn. And I choose to summon, Kazejin!" A green head with a strange symbol of it and a pair of arms appeared in a gust of wind. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 2200 LV: 7)

"He sacrificed his brother's monster to summon a better one for the team. Now that's tag dueling." Bastion commented.

"Would you mind to trying to not sound so impressed, Bastion?" Alexis asked in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Kazejin. From what I've heard, there are two other monsters similar to that one." Jenny said. "And if all three of them are on the field, they can combine together to create an even more powerful creature."

"Then let's hope Jaden and Syrus can destroy it before that happens." Andrew replied.

On the arena, the brothers began their rhyming again.

"Do you actually think you know anything of this game?"

"You're losers, you're jokes, in other words, you're lame."

"And if they think this is starting to get grueling…"

"Then wait until I draw and give them a true schooling." Dox finished the rhyming. "I play Dark Designator. This powerful spell card allows me tall call out any monster that I can think of. And if it's any way in my brother's deck, it's added immediately to his hand. Now let me see here… Sanga of the Thunder."

Para chuckled as he picked out the named card. "What do you know, it's right here, ready to tear them asunder."

 _'You've gotta be kidding me. Another level seven monster?'_ Jaden thought.

"The duel just started…" Para said tauntingly.

"And yet it is almost done." Dox filled in.

"For your demise has already begun." They spoke the last part simultaneously. Syrus looked nervous at their words.

"Don't worry Sy, they're only saying that because it makes for an easy rhyme." Jaden attempted to reassure him. _'Well I hope we don't make an easy match. Okay, monster roll call. I got my Burstinatrix chilling in defense mode and Sy's got… well… he's got his little helicopter thingy. Not bad, but not good when we're down at some serious serious opposition. Including some level seven green thing I've never seen before.'_

"What do you think Jaden?" Syrus asked. "If we just quit right now, we'll have some extra time to pack up all of our stuff. So uh… Shall we?"

"The only thing we're packing is some serious dueling punch." Jaden replied, trying to encourage his partner. "I'm telling you, we'll beat these guys Sy."

"You know what Jaden, you're right." He said, more determined than before. _'We are packing some serious dueling punch. Not only am I gonna show the Paradox Brothers, but I'm gonna show my brother as well. And I'm gonna do it right here, right now, on this turn.'_  
"All aboard!" He announced as he drew his card. "I summon Steamroid in attack mode." The cartoonish steam train appeared beside the helicopter. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "And I also play this, Polymerization. Check it out. I'm taking my Steamroid and Gyroid and fusing them together to create the ultimate engine that could. Steam Gyroid." The two monsters formed to create the bizarre train like monster Syrus played against Jaden in their practice duel. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF: 1600 LV: 6) "Now that's locomotion! See, you guys made a mistake in all that teamwork; by sacrificing Jirai Gumo, you left your brother completely defenseless. Leaving the door wide open for an attack."

"Uh… Sy?" Jaden tried to warn him.

"And I'm coming in! Steam Gyroid, attack Para!"

"An attack!?" He said surprised.

"Got that right!"

The members of the audience looked at Syrus' error with different expressions on their faces; Bastion, Andrew, Alexis and Jenny gasping. Zane scowling. Crowler and Chazz chuckling. And Michael having an unease expression. The gray machine advanced forward, the blades spinning around itself.

"If you please brother."

"It'd be my pleasure indeed brother. Kazejin, defend with Squall Barricade!" Dox commanded his green monster. It stepped in front of Para and pushed Steam Gyroid back by blowing wind fro its mouth. "Our monster's special ability, do you like?"

"It brings down your damage to zero, without even a fight."

"So I goofed?" Syrus asked, looking stunned stupid.

Crowler was at seeing Syrus' performance. "Do these two actually think they have a chance at beating Para and Dox? They stink worse than dirty socks. Ha! Now they even have me doing it."

"Forget it Sy, no biggie." Jaden tried to cheer I'm up.

"Yeah right." Syrus said glumly.

"Hey, I'm serious pal. Just keep going."

Syrus nodded at his partner's words. "Alrighty then, I play one card facedown and end my turn.

"At last, a smart move." Para jabbed. "My draw. I play Monster Reborn and bring back the frightful Jirai Gumo." The giant spider reappeared in front of him. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF 100 LV: 4) "And I'll also activate another spell card. Tribute Doll."

"Not again." Syrus moaned.

"Yes again! And again, I will use it to sacrifice Jirai, so that I can summon yet another level seven monster; Suijin!" Once again, black vines emerged from the spell card and crushed the spider. And a blue monster that looked like a pair of legs with a head in the mid section, on which was another strange symbol, appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 2400 LV: 7) "And I am not done yet. Mind if I borrow a monster brother?"

"Please, that's why he's there."

"I sacrifice Kaiser Sea Horse." The named monster covered in dark fire as Para spoke.

"In case you did not know, when you are summoning a light attribute monster, Kaiser Sea Horse's sacrifice counts as two instead of one." Dox explained. "Which means I am now able to summon Sanga of the Thunder." A brown and red torso with arms and a face in the middle materialized next to the blue monster. " **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2200 LV: 7)

"Now I place those odds at 500 to 1." Bastion said.

"What're the odds of you being quiet." Alexis replied.

"So those are the two monsters you mentioned?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah." Jenny replied. "If they are about to do what I think they will…"

"Three monsters on our side, what could be better done?" Dox wondered.

"I know what brother, when they come together as one. I sacrifice Kazejin, Suijin and Sanga of the Thunder so I can summon the ultimate monster; Gate Guardian!" The three monsters were surrounded by light and when it faded, there stood a giant creature. Its upper body and arms were made of Sanga, the mid section was Kazejin without its arms and Suijin was the legs. ( **ATK: 3750** DEF: 3400 LV: 11)

"Gate Guardian!?" Syrus exclaimed.

"He's gi-normous!" Jaden added, being as surprised as his partner.

"Just wait until you see his attack. Destroy Steam Gyroid! Tidal Surge Attack!" The bottom part gathered water, while the upper harnessed electricity. The mid section combined the two elements with wind it out towards Syrus' machine. The fusion monster was overcome in a second and the blast passed through it and hit Syrus.

 **Jaden & Syrus: 8000-6450**

"This isn't a duel, it's a target practice for the Paradox Brothers." Bastion said. "And Sy's the bullseye."

"He just made a few bad moves, that's all." Alexis said, attempting to remain positive. "He'll turn things around… at least I hope he does. Jaden's good, but he's not good enough to win this thing by himself."

"There's still a chance they can turn this thing around. We just have to believe in them." Jenny said, trying to encourage her friends.

"Yeah, I'm sure they can find a way to defeat Gate Guardian." Andrew said positively, before making a frowning expression on his face. "But still, I don't really like this. I know that Crowler is dead set on getting Jaden kicked out, but making Syrus suffer as well is way too far."

Michael didn't like this either. "Come on guys, you've worked so hard to prepare yourselves for this match. You can win this."

"I know it hurts…"

"And the bad news is it only gets worse."

"If it gets as bad as this rhyming, then we'll be in serious trouble." Syrus commented

Peeking from the edge, Crowler was watching this duel with a glee. _'These two are dueling perfectly.'_ He thought. _'They know just what to do and are doing it. After all, in a tag duel, once you destroy the weakest link, the entire thing comes crumbling apart. And they certainly found just that,_ _little Syrus.'_ He turned his gaze towards the latter. _'Poor little Syrus, he'd be the weakest link on a plate of sausages.'_

 _Chazz was chuckling_ evilly at this.

 _' Aww man. I hope Jaden's got something special in that deck of his.'_ Syrus thought worriedly. _'Or this match is over, and so are our lives at the academy.'_

"Well, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Let's take this thing down!" Syrus looked doubtful at his partner's words.

"I can't wait too see you try, so I will end my turn with a facedown card." Para challenged.

"Then it's time to go to work! Here goes." Jaden said as he drew. _"_ Sweet! All right, you're getting called up big guy. First I'm gonna summon the Elemental HERO Clayman!" The large stone warrior appeared next to the red fire heroine. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 2000 LV: 4) "Then I'll play Polymerization. Now I'll fuse the Clayman and Burstinatrix to create, the Elemental HERO Rampart Blaster. She's bad." The two heroes were sucked into a fusion vortex and came out as the big female armored hero. (ATK: 2000 **DEF: 2500** LV: 6)

"Yeah, she's bad, bu not as bad as that Gate Guardian." Syrus pointed out. "She only has 2500 defense points, that guardian's attack points are 3750. Blaster will get blasted.

"Don't sweat it. That's what her special ability's for Sy. When she's in defense mode, the Rampart Blaster can attack an opponent directly."

"Our life points!" The brothers exclaimed.

"Now go Rampart Blaster! Blast them with Rampart Barrage!" The armored female hero shot two missiles from her arm, each hitting one of the brothers. "Sure, it's only half the points you'd normally lose, but hey it's a special effect, what're you gonna do?"

 **The Paradox Brothers: 8000-7000**

"A lucky move." Dox muttered.

"All right, we're back in this thing!" Syrus cheered.

"Sy, we were never out of it."

 _'Yeah, Jaden's right. We can win this!"_

"It's my turn now." Dox announced. "I'm activating the equip spell card Fairy Meteor Crush. And I'm equipping it to the Gate Guardian. Now when the Guardian's attacks a monster in defense mode, the difference between his attack points and your monster's defense points, are dealt straight to your life points."

"Not so fast!" Syrus barged in. "You're forgetting that I have a facedown card out. I'm activating, Mystical Space Typhoon! It destroys one spell or trap card. And I'm gonna use it on the one you just played, Fairy Meteor Crush!" A tornado emerged from Syrus' spell card and sped towards Gate Guardian.

"Right into my trap." Para's facedown card flipped up as he spoke. "I activate Judgement of Anubis. Foolish boy, this lets me stop your little spell simply by discarding one card. Your typhoon has just been downgraded to a cool summer breeze. Observe." He said as he discarded one of his cards. The tornado thinned out until there was nothing left of it. "But wait, that's not all it does. Anubis also destroys one of your creatures."

"And then its attack points are dealt back to you. Pretty cool special feature." Dox explained. Rampart Blaster exploded, the winds of the explosion hitting the two Slifer students.

 **Jaden & Syrus: 6450-4450**

"I know it feels like we have your backs to the wall, but in fact the wall's right in front of you. I play this to end my turn." A gray brick wall came together right in front of Dox. It had a face in the middle and pipes that made up its arms. (ATK: 0 **DEF: 2100** LV: 4) "It's called Defense Wall. And as long as it's on the field in defense mode, all the monsters you have, can only attack him."

"The Gate Guardian on offense and that wall on defense. Almost flawless." Bastion commented.

"I get it!" Alexis said, annoyed at him. "Now are you going to be quiet or should I move?"

"Seriously Bastion, I know what the Paradox Brothers are doing is impressive, but you need to start cheering for Jaden and Syrus instead." Andrew suggested.

"Yeah, or is it possible that you want them getting expelled?" Jenny asked, almost as annoyed as Alexis.

"O-of course not. Sorry." Bastion apologized.

"It's your turn." Dox pointed out to Syrus. "What are you waiting for?"

"Uhh, to be honest, a miracle." Syrus replied. He looked disappointedly at the card he drew. "I summon Cycroid, in uhh, defense mode." An orange, one-eyed bicycle appeared on Syrus' field with its handlebars in a defensive position. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 1000** LV: 3) He noticed Jaden staring at him. _'Oh, Jaden's looking at me, I can feel it. I know it was a weak monster, but it was the best I can do right now.'_

"You summon a bike?" Para asked mockingly. "Well it's in for a major flat. Gate Guardian, Tidal Surge Attack!" The giant once again combined water, thunder and wind and fired it from its mid section'n mouth. The elements crashed through the bike who futilely tried to defend itself. "And don't forget the effects of the Fairy Meteor Crush I have him equipped for. The difference between my attack points and your defense points you take as damage." The giant charged up its attack and shot it out at Syrus, who cried out as he was hit.

 **Jaden & Syrus: 4450-1700**

Chumley, Michael, Bastion, Andrew, Alexis and Jenny gasped upon seeing this.

"Your life points are falling…"

"Your game play's appalling…"

"There is nothing to be done except give up and start bawling." Jaden's face was hidden as his partner and most of the audience was looking at him.

 **"Attention Jaden Yuki. It is your turn. You must make a move, or you will be disqualified"**

"Why is Jaden just standing there like that?" Jenny asked worriedly. "He isn't giving up, is he?"

"No, I don't think so." Andrew replied confidently. "The Jaden I know would just keep dueling until the very end. There's no way he would give up."

"But look at the field." Bastion protested. "It's two monsters to none. It's a simple calculation to figure… they'll be knackered."

"Nice going Bastion." Alexis said sarcastically. "Now you're putting them down using words I can't even understand."

"Come on Bastion. Don't say that." Andrew protested. "We have to believe that Jaden has a strategy."

"Oh, I'm certain that _he_ does. It's Syrus I'm concerned about. He's walked into every trap, spell and attack the Paradox Brothers have played. He's been horrible."

"You know, on second thought, I think I liked it better when I couldn't understand you." Alexis commented.

"Oh sorry." Bastion said as he shut up.

Chumley was silently begging them to win. 'Oh _please, let them win, let them win. I'll give up grilled cheeses for a week. I'll just fry them instead.'_ "Go team."

Michael was a little worried as well. "This is so uncool. Jaden and Syrus are in a very, very tight spot. Dammit Dr Crowler, why do you have to make it so difficult?"

Chazz was grinning at the thought of seeing Jaden and Syrus lose. _'Finally, those Slifer slackers are getting the beat down they deserve! I can't wait until they lose and get kicked out of the academy, especially that loser Jaden.'_

"Chazz, you alright?" One of his lackeys asked, seeing him seething. The Obelisk just ignored him and continued his thoughts.

 _'That slime! Thinking he was going to be the next King of Games. Now way! That's my destiny. Especially since he's about to be expelled.'_

Crowler was chuckling to himself. "I'm a genius, a pure genius! First I lure them deep inside the abandoned dorm, then I arrange this tag duel as a punishment, then I hire the world's best tag duelists to ensure they lose and expelled!" He then burst into laughter.

"So, Crowler, enjoying the boys' punishment a little too much, are we?" Crowler jumped, he forgot Chancellor Sheppard was sitting right behind him.

"Oh my no, you misinterpret." He replied nervously. "I'm just laughing because I'm happy the duel's nearly done. After all, our poor students look so weary. I'm thrilled their suffering is nearly finished."

"Oh, it doesn't look like they're suffering so much to me." Sheppard said. "In fact, Jaden looks like he's just getting his second wind." Crowler looked at the specific Slifer Red student and saw him with his head raised and a look of determination on his face.

The Paradox Brothers noticed it too.

"Well, well. The Slifer Red forges ahead." Para commented. "When a smart duelist…"

"Would have fled." Dox filled in.

"Oh man, I'm starting to wish that the academy had made us Slifer orange. Then we wouldn't have to put up with so many of these awful rhymes." The two brothers frowned at his comment. His duel spirit appeared beside his head and cooed. "I know, I don't think they got it either."

"Forget about our rhyming…"

"Just focus more on your card play."

"For the partner you have…"

"To win, you have a long way."

Syrus moaned at their words.

"Don't you listen to them, Sy. Ok?"

"But they're right."

"They're not right, Sy. I know, cuz you're gonna be the one to take that thing down." Jaden pointed to the Gate Guardian. "So let's go." He drew a card. " First I summon Elemental HERO Sparkman in attack mode." The blue and gold hero appeared in a shower of electricity. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "And then next, I'm gonna equip him with this, Spark Blaster!" A small rectangular gun materialized in Sparkman's hand. "Now with each blast fired, I can change the battle mode of one of your monsters. And I'll start with, Gate Guardian. Take a knee, you're going to defense mode." The electric hero shot a blast from his weapon that coursed over the giant monster, forcing it drop down and cross its arms.

"Well that was certainly an odd choice. Unless Jaden has something planned, I'm afraid he's wasted his move." Andrew and the Obelisk Blue girls simply continued watch the duel, instead of making a remark about Bastion's comment.

"You must be a fool. When Gate Guardian's on defense, he never tires. Your situation is just as dire."

"And though I hate to feed the fire, the Defense Wall we played you have yet to retire."

"Great, thanks. I'm just gonna throw down a facedown now and end my turn."

"Fine then, my draw." Dox announced. "I'll just place one card facedown. No more, no less. Brother, you do the rest."

"Excellent decision, I think it's for the best. For I'm quite sure that next turn, I'll win us this contest."

"Aww man." Syrus moaned. "Jaden, you heard them. Next turn they're gonna take us out. There's no point to me even drawing. I should just give up, maybe they'll at least let you have a rematch then."

"Syrus, listen to me…" Jaden said. "One draw, that's all it takes to turn the tide of an entire duel. You remember the last time you had one draw, right?" Syrus mind wandered to the specific moment he was referring to...

* * *

 **Flashback**

The three Slifers were in their dorm room. Jaden and Syrus were sitting across from each other dueling on the floor. And Syrus was backed into a corner.

"Ha! You'll never get out of this." Jaden said.

"Yeah, I give. Let's have a rematch. But first, let's see what I would've drawn. And it's..." Syrus turned over the top card of his deck. "Whoa, this changes everything!"

"Yeah, well, it doesn't change the fact that you already gave up the match though, right?" Jaden asked nervously.

Syrus laughed

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"You hear what I'm saying, Syrus?" Jaden asked. "There's no such thing as a last draw, cuz with the right card, you can always get another draw."

"But…"

"No buts about it. Make your move pal. I know you can do it Sy. It's all up to you."

 _'I know Jaden. That's what I'm afraid of.'_ Syrus thought.

 _'Come on guys, I know you can win this.'_ Andrew thought as he watched the duel with a confident look on his face.

 _'Aw man, Jaden said my one draw could keep us from losing this duel, but the only way we won't lose is if I beat that Gate Guardian.'_ Syrus then suddenly remembered a duel he had finished with Chumley...

* * *

 **Flashback**

Jaden looked at the cards Syrus held as he was sitting across from Chumley. "Whoa! That card is sweet," He said pointing to one in particular. "With the right combo, it could beat anything. So can I have it?"

"Eh…"

"Oh come on!

"No way, you always do this…" Chumley was just sitting there, giving them an awkward look.

Jaden put his hands in front of himself and begged. "Pleeeeeease?"

 **Flashback end**

* * *

The flashback faded as Syrus' thoughts returned to the present again. _'That's it! That one card is the only chance we have. But if I don't draw it, we're done. Jaden and me, all our hopes of becoming the best, everything we've ever dreamed about. Our fun, our friendship, our future, it'll all be over…'_  
All right, here it goes." Syrus then drew his card, his expression lightening up as he saw it. "Jaden!"

"Sy, you got it?" Syrus nodded. "Then show them the drill!"

"All right, I summon Drillroid in attack mode." A purple and beige cartoonish machine erupted from the ground. It had tracks and a drill on its front, as well as on its arms. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1600 LV: 4) "And guess what, when Drillroid fights a monster in defense mode, it's automatically destroyed." The two brothers' eyes widened at this.

"Oh yeah."

"So open wide!" Syrus' machine monster sped in the direction of the Gate Guardian. Halfway through...

"Defense Wall!" Dox called out and the named monster stepped in between Gate Guardian and Drillroid. And thus, the Defense Wall was destroyed when the drill broke it down.

 **Jaden & Syrus: 1700-1200**

Chazz chuckled to himself. "Those two must have forgotten that Defense Wall automatically intercepts any attack.

"A nice try." Para commented.

"But not nice enough." Dox finished.

"Gate Guardian still stands…"

"Despite your best stuff."

"But that wasn't his best stuff. Right Sy?"

"Yep. But now that your Defense Wall's rubble, you'll get it. Well a certain monster will anyway. I activate the spell card, Shield Crush. That's right. And just like the name says, it destroys any monster that's trying to hide in defense mode. Just like… that Gate Guardian!" A blast of green energy shot out from Syrus' spell card. It crashed over the giant monster, destroying it in a flash.

"Gate Guardian is cooked!" Para said.

"I can hardly look." Dox said.

"Nice going Sy." Jaden congratulated. "The bigger they brawl, the harder they fall." The two smiled at each other.

The crowd burst into cheers.

"Haha, fried cheese here I come!" Chumley cheered.

"Haha! That's more like it." Michael said.

"Hm." Zane was still watching with the neutral expression on his face.

As for Dr Crowler… "No! This is supposed to be punishment! And the crowd's treating them like heroes! Chancellor Sheppard, tell me you're watching this."

"Yes, well done Crowler. This match you set up is promoting teamwork and dueling fortitude. Fine job."

"Did you see that? Did you? Tell me you all saw that." Bastion said, shocked at how the tide of the duel just turned.

"Bastion, we're sitting right next to you watching our friends in the duel of their lives. What do you think we're watching?" Alexis replied.

"But you know what amazes me even more than them taking down that Gate Guardian?" Jenny asked. "The teamwork that they used to do it with. That's what this is going to win this."

"They're coming along just fine. Let's hope they can keep it up." Andrew said.

"Okay. Now, I play one card facedown and end my turn." Syrus looked at Jaden. "Thanks for the pep talk."

"Hey, thank you for the sweet move."

"Sure."

"Mind if we join in on all the praise you two?" Para asked.

"Because for destroying that monster, we should really…"

"Thank you."

Syrus looked confused.

"They say what doesn't destroy you makes you stronger. And it's true. After all, we haven't been destroyed and we're about to become more powerful than ever." Para said as he held up a spell card. "Dark Element! This spell card can activate whenever Gate Guardian is in the graveyard. Now by paying half our life points...

 **The Paradox Brothers: 7000-3500**

"We can summon a monster that can't be beat in battle."

"Dark Guardian!" The Paradox Brothers called out.

Dark energy surrounded the spell card and went into the graveyard section of Para's duel disk. It came back out and then formed a vortex in the ground, from which arose a monster as gigantic as the first. It was a huge muscled man wearing black armor, an unusual helmet and carrying a double sided axe. From the waist down, instead of legs was a big mechanical spider. ( **ATK: 3800** DEF: 3800 LV: 12)

"Invincible in battle and has those attack points?" Bastion asked, being as shocked as the rest of the gang.

"Oh my god! That's insane!" Andrew said.

"This is bad." Syrus said

"Now Guardian, attack Drillroid with Axe Slash Bash!"

"That's it," Bastion cried out. "If this connects, Jaden and Syrus will lose."

"Jaden!" Alexis said.

"Syrus!" Andrew called out.

And as anyone would predict, Chazz was chuckling in anticipation. The guardian swung its axe, producing a massive energy wave aimed at Syrus' machine monster.

"Farewell." Para said.

"Not yet!" Jaden cried. "I play my facedown Hero Barrier! Sorry fellas, but this lets me stop one of your attacks so long as I have an Elemental HERO out. And as you can see, Sparkman is standing tall." A blue shield surrounded Drillroid, stopping the attack. The collision was so strong that the whole audience could feel it.

"Whoa! That was close." Andrew commented. "Nice save, Jaden."

"An impressive trap card." Para admitted

"I never quite thought they'd be so hard." Dox said.

"I know, we bombard and bombard. Oh well, at least our precious Dark Guardian…"

"Has kept up his guard."

"Quite right brother. He won't be blasted to shards."

"He'll finish them off next turn."

"And this duel will be ours."

Syrus sunk to his knees. _'Just when I step up my game, they step up theirs even more.'_

Crowler giggled to himself. "Here it comes. The moment I've been waiting for. The moment these two lose and get expelled."

"Chin up Sy," Jaden said cheeringly. "This match isn't over yet."

"But Jay…"

"But nothing Pal. Stand up." _'Cause you'll want a good view for what I'm about to pull.'_ Syrus managed to make himself stand straight.

"It looks like the boy still wants to proceed."

"Really? I thought surely mercy he would plead."

"No, he would need smarts to know when to concede."

"Can it you two!" Jaden said as he drew. "It's my turn. And I activate the spell card Pot of Greed. This lets me draw two cards. And next I'll play Fusion Gate." He slid the spell card into the field spell drawer. "With this, I don't need Polymerization. I can summon all the fusion monsters I want. And I'm gonna start by fusing Elemental HERO Avian, Bubbleman and why don't we throw Sparkman in the mix as well?" Sparkman turned into a yellow light, Avian to a green one and Bubbleman to a blue one. "All to create, wait for it…" The three lights swirled around each other. "Yeah! And there he is! The Elemental HERO Tempest!" The new monster was a muscular man wearing a dark blue armor, had untamed green hair and a blue visor covering his eyes. He had wide green wings with metallic feathers and in the place of his right forearm, was a silver cannon. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 2800 LV: 8)

"Fine creature." Bastion commented. "But it still can't beat their guardian."

"Bastion! Just whose side are you on?" Alexis and Jenny snapped at him.

"I'm sure Jaden knows what he's doing." Andrew said.

"An impressive move, but it is useless, boy."

"Have you forgotten about Dark Guardian? He's still deployed. And since in battle he can't be destroyed…"

"The beast is null and void."

"Void this! Skyscraper!" Jaden inserted the named card into his duel disk and tall city buildings appeared around the four duelists. "Ever hear that you should never play in a construction zone? Well it's true, cause now my Elemental HERO gets an extra 1000 attack points because it's weaker than Dark Guardian." ( **ATK: 2800-3800** )

"What the…"

"Now, Hero Tempest, attack with Powerhouse Plummet!" The winged hero charged up its cannon and dove at the enemy. It slammed its right arm into the giant and released the pent up energy, causing winds to kick up around them.

"Didn't I warn you? In battle he can't be beat. Your Elemental HERO Tempest has been wasted. So just accept…"

"Your defeat."

"Sy, can you spare a card?" Jaden asked his partner.

"Sure."

"I use Tempest's special ability." Syrus' facedown card disappeared. "Sorry you guys, but so long as I banish one of our cards to the graveyard, Tempest isn't destroyed." The two monsters still intact, Jaden's hero distanced himself and flew back to his field.

"Nice work wasting your attack there, slacker." Chazz said.

"I don't get it. Was he hoping for a tie?" Alexis asked. The others just shrugged.

"Clever." Zane said to himself. "Just so long as Syrus knows what to do next."

"Jaden…"

"Hey it's cool, trust me.

Syrus nodded.

"Sy, This will all work out if you play the right card come your turn."

"If he has a turn." Dox said as he drew. "I play the trap card, One-on-One Fight! Though I'm sure you'd prefer to run and hide, this card forces both our strongest monsters to do battle. So I hope that your Elemental HERO Tempest is up for a rematch."

"But why?" Syrus asked. "It'll be a tie again. What's the point of attacking?"

"I have my reasons."

"And they're sneaky ones." Alexis commented. "For Tempest to keep tying Dark Guardian, Jaden will have to keep sacrificing cards."

"And whatever edge they give him." Bastion added.

"But the only card they have left is Skyscraper," Jenny said. "Which means…"

"Jaden and Syrus are in serious trouble now." Andrew filled in.

"Well, I hate to do it, but I have no choice. Guess I gotta get rid of Skyscraper." The buildings crumbled down, causing Tempest to lose his extra points. ( **ATK: 3800-2800** )

"So you saved your monster," Dox said." But that doesn't mean you saved your life points." The energy waves from Dark Guardian passed through the winged hero and hit the two Slifers.

 **Jaden & Syrus: 1200-0200**

"That's all for me."

"And next turn I'll give you my guarantee…"

"This duel will be ours, just wait and see."

"All right Sy. Remember what I said."

"Oh right." _'That this would all work out if I played the right card.'_

"Got it Sy?"

"I think." _'Play… That goes back to what my brother was saying. About the difference between knowing how to use a card and knowing how to play it. But do I know the difference?"_ Everyone was looking at Syrus in anticipation. He looked at his brother and saw him watching.

Then in his mind, he was face to face with Zane, wearing a blue middle school uniform while Zane still wore his Obelisk Blue uniform. Zane had his back to him while Syrus' head was lowered.

"Hey Zane, what's the difference between knowing how to use a card and knowing how to play it? Aren't they the same?"

Zane turned his head slightly to look at Syrus. "That's something that can never be taught, only learned. It takes a moment of pure clarity, when you see dueling on a different level. A higher level, all the angles, all the moves. You won't think, you'll just act."

Syrus snapped back to reality. _'All right. Then enough thinking, it's time for action.'_ "Here we go. My draw!" He said as he drew a card and looked at it. "Ok, first off, I sacrifice Drillroid, to summon UFOroid." The drilling machine disappeared and was replaced by a simple flying saucers with the same cartoonish dace as Syrus' other monsters. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1200 LV: 6) "And also, I activate the spell card Powerbond."

"Hm." Jaden nodded.

"It's a fusion card." Syrus explained. "And I have just the two monsters to fuse…" He looked at Jaden. "Jaden, do you mind?"

"Hey, what's mine is yours, Sy."

"Then I'll merge UFOroid and Tempest to create UFOroid Fighter!" The flying saucer was transformed into a hovering platform which Tempest stood on. "And it gets better, its attack points are the sum total of each individual monster's attack points. ( **ATK: 4000** DEF: 4000 LV: 10)

"It matters not." Para said. "So stop your ceaseless prattle."

"You know Dark Guardian can't be destroyed in battle." Dox said.

"Yeah that's true, but, that doesn't matter. Cause Powerbond has a special effect that doubles my Roid Fighter's attack points." Tempest glowed with a blue aura feeling the power. ( **ATK: 4000-8000** )

"To make 8000!?" The brothers exclaimed.

"Sure, Dark Guardian will survive the attack, but it will be a different story for your life points. Now, let's go! Roid Fighter attack! Cosmic Flux Blast!" Tempest shot a blast of blue energy that hit Dark Guardian. The giant monster let out a cry as the attack passed through him, going on to hit the Paradox Brothers.

 **The Paradox Brothers: 3500-0000**

"Way to go!" Chumley cheered.

"Haha! Well played guys!" Michael cheered.

"They did it!" Jenny said as she was overjoyed by their victory.

"Of course they did." Andrew said proudly. And then suddenly, felt someone wrap their arms around him. He turned to see Jenny hugging him while laughing. "U-um, Jenny?" He said while blushing a little.

Upon hearing Andrew saying her name, Jenny noticed what she did and let go of him. She turned away with a blushing face. "S-sorry."

"Well well, they won." Bastion said with a smile. "I'm getting more impressed every day."

"I'm just happy that Jaden gets to stay here." Alexis said.

"Jaden _and_ Syrus you mean?" Andrew corrected, shaking off the blush.

"Well yes, Syrus too, of course." She stammered. "I just said Jaden because… well… I just thought his name first. Let's just go and congratulate them." And she left out the seats.

Jenny had a mischievous smile across her face. _'I can tell why you only said his name.'_

Chazz growled angrily. "I'm outta here." He then got out and stormed out of the arena, with his lackeys following him.

"It can't be!" Crowler fell to the ground in his surprise. "How'd they win? Not fair."

"How?" Banner said as he kneeled down to his level, with Pharaoh in his arms. "Because of your superb teaching of course. Oh wait, they're in my dorm." Pharaoh reached out and licked Crowler's face.

The Obelisk teacher started to freak out. "That furball just licked me! Does he have rabies!? Show me his papers! CALL THE POUND!"

"Let it out, Syrus." Jaden said. "I know you cry out when you're happy."

"No way. Not the new Syrus." He managed to contain himself for a moment before breaking out."

"Well, there are some things that will never change."

"Well one thing that won't be changing," Chancellor Sheppard said. "Is your enrollment at the academy. You're here to stay."

"Yeah!" Jaden and Syrus cheered.

"Congratulations, guys!" Andrew said as he, Jenny, Bastion and Alexis came to them. Even Michael came down to congratulate them. "That was well played."

"Oh and you guys." Jaden talked to the defeated brothers. "Let me just say it was a great honor. And if you ever want a rematch, just holler."

"Well said Jaden." Sheppard commented. "And I'm sure it'll be even better written." Jaden's eyes bulged outward. "That's right. I'd like a five page report. I want to read all about what you've learned by dueling the brothers. And how it helped you realize that trespassing into the abandoned dorm was wrong."

Jaden's shoulders fell down at hearing the requirements. "Talk about a bummer."

"How about ten pages then? And single spaced too."

"I'll make sure they get it done Chancellor." Banner assured him.

"You sure are a smooth talker, Jaden." Michael commented with a teasing grin.

"How can I write ten pages!?" He cried out. "I've never even read that much!"

Syrus looked at his brother in the distance. _'I wanna think I impressed you Zane, that I dueled at a higher level, that I showed you I can play a card ,not just use it. But I know I still have a lot to learn and a lot to live up to.'_

A small smile crossed Zane's face as he left.

"Ten whole pages!" Jaden continued his ranting. "That's practically a book! My life is so over. I don't even know how to spell 'Paradox Brothers'. And do all their parts have to rhyme? Aww, this is gonna take forever!"

"Cheer up Jaden." Andrew said. "There's at least one good thing about this."

"Yeah! At least you're here to stay!" Chumley said as he approached his roommates.

The audience was giving Jaden and Syrus a standing ovation.

The brown haired Slifer student lost his grumpy and gave them a two finger salute. "That's game!"

* * *

 **And done.** **Until next time.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Formula For Succes**

Today was a bright day at Duel Academy. Some students were sitting in classrooms, while other students were taking part in gym class. The students in the gym class were playing Baseball. The match was between the Slifer Red and Ra Yellow dorm. The Slifers were up the bat, while the Ras were in the outfield. All the guys were currently wearing white and blue gym clothes. They also had bandanas tied around their arms, with colors based on their dorms. In other words, The Slifer boys with red bandanas and the Ra boys with yellow bandanas. The Slifers had a 3-0 lead. There were two outs and the second and the third were bases loaded. And right now, a certain Slifer student was up to bat. The one playing catcher for the Yellow team is none other than the Masked Hero duelist, Andrew Wilson! And the one up for bat, was the Elemental Hero duelist, Jaden Yuki!"

"Jay, keep your eye on the ball!" Syrus coached.

"That could be tough. After all, the ball is gonna be going over the rafters. He'll score, then he'll score, and then all up score will have a six round lead."

"You're more than welcome to try. Jaden." Andrew replied as he prepared himself. "All it takes is three strikes, and you're out!"

"Oh yeah? Then bring it on!" Jaden challenged.

Andrew was about to throw… "Hold on! Time out!" Everyone looked in the direction the voice had come from and they saw Bastion running to the field. "Sorry, I was deep in some attack point quantum mechanics and lost track of time." He explained to his teammates.

"Can you throw?" One of them asked.

"Sure."

"Well, we need a fresh arm."

"Pitcher change!" One of the students called out. Andrew left the field for Bastion to take the mound.

"This is no written exam, Bastion" Jaden called out. "I hope you know what you're doing!"

"Oh trust me, Jaden." Andrew grinned confidently. "If I know Bastion correctly, then he did all the calculations for this."

"I believe Andrew is right, Jaden." Bastion said, getting ready to throw. "Now get ready for some heat Jaden, this one's coming in red hot!"

"Then bring it on!"

Bastion didn't wait for the signals as he launched a fast ball, straight down in the middle. Jaden missed and Andrew caught it.

"Strike one!" As for the other two throws...

"Strike two!"

"Strike three, you're out!" Jaden was struck out.

"Aww nuts!" Jaden shouted.

"I warned you." Andrew said, taking off the catcher's gear. "And if you think his pitching was good, just wait until you see him knock it out of the park." He left for the sidelines to wait for his turn to bat.

"We'll see." Jaden said as he took the pitcher's mound, and Syrus took Andrew's place as the catcher.

* * *

At the bottom of the ninth, Jaden already struck out the two first batters. But then strangely enough, he started to get sloppy. He threw so badly for the next three batters, with Andrew being the third, that they walked to the bases.

"Time!" Syrus called. "Jaden, what's going on? You've got two outs and now you walked the last three batters."

"Pretty slick, huh?"

"Slick?" All the Slifers asked.

"Yeah, how else would I get a chance to pitch Bastion?" Jaden revealed.

"What? So then you walked all those guys just so that you could get even with Bastion?" Syrus said in realization.

"Nah. I don't want to just get even, I want to get ahead. Hey, you hear that Buddy? You're going down!"

"Down the base path perhaps." He replied confidently as he stood prepared for Jaden's pitch. The Slifer players went back to their places. "Now then, give me your best Jaden. I don't want to hear any excuses, after I wallop it right out of the ballpark. That is if you can manage to get the baseball over the plate of course."

"Game on!"

"Game over soon."

"Now here's some fight for ya!" Jaden swung his arm back and threw a fast ball straight over the middle of the plate. To his surprise though, Bastion was able to hit the ball and send it flying in the distance.

At the same time as this was happening, Dr Crowler was walking by himself nearby. He was contemplating the results of his schemes to get Jaden expelled. "The Paradox Brothers couldn't beat Jaden! Chazz couldn't beat Jaden! I need to find someone who can beat … AHH!" His ranting was interrupted by a ball straight to his left eye, causing him to fall over into a pile of sports equipment.

"Heads up!" Crowler popped out of the pile and saw Jaden and Syrus. When the two Slifers realized who was hit, they freaked out.

"YOU!? WELL OF COURSE! WHO ELSE COULD CAUSE SUCH INTENSE PAIN!?" He screamed furiously.

"Now that's keeping your eye on the ball." Syrus commented, as Crowler had the ball lodged in the eye.

"Sorry." Jaden said. "It was…"

"My fault." Bastion came up to them. "I was the one who hit the ball."

"Bastion? Of course." Crowler said, his mood completely changing as he heard Bastion. He turn around as he spoke up. "Here I was starting to find a new accomplice and here it smacks me right in the face. Well the eye actually, but that's really beside the point."

"Dr Crowler, accept my apologies." Bastion said, bowing in respect.

"No, no, no, no! I've been meaning to have my contacts refitted for ages and now I have the perfect excuse." Crowler said, trying to be nice. "And the perfect new protégé." He muttered the last part.

"Huh?"

Crowler had forgotten that Jaden and Syrus were still there. "All right you two, you caused enough trouble! Now, shoo, shoo shoo!" He growled as the ball fell off, revealing his black eye.

"Fine." Jaden said. "But that was foul, Bastion. Bye!" He and Syrus then ran off.

"Never mind those two. Slifer Slackers." Crowler said. "It's time you started consorting with those more your class, don't you think? It's time you start consorting… with me."

* * *

Later on, the students, including Andrew, were waiting for the class to start since Crowler was still talking with Bastion. Shiori was sitting right next to him

"Hey Andrew, do you know what Crowler is talking to Bastion about?" The ritual duelist asked.

"No, I have no idea. When I went over there to see what was taking so long, Crowler was walking with him out of the field."

"But that's strange. Because as far as I know, he was always looking down on the students from the lower ranks."

"That's true." Andrew agreed.

They then heard the arrogant voice of Chazz from one of the top seats.

"Yo, foot rub and ice tea, now."

"Get it yourself." One of three Obelisk Blue boys standing nearby said.

"What was that?" Chazz snapped.

"Doesn't he know?"

"Guess not."

"Know what?" Chazz asked.

"Chazz, where do you think you're sitting?" Another Obelisk Blue boy asked, walking up to him.

"My seat."

"Sorry, but that's not your seat anymore. Now move!"

"What are you talking about? Of course this is my seat. It says so right here." Chazz looked at the spot where he'd had his name tag, but was surprised to see that it was missing.

"Sorry Chazz, but you were moved way over there." The Obelisk pointed to a seat towards the bottom near the Ra Yellows. And it was in front of where Andrew and Shiori were sitting.

"What? I don't wanna to look at his ugly back!" Shiori said.

"Same here." Andrew agreed.

Chazz wasn't so pleased either. "No way! This is all wrong! I don't belong over there with those losers!" It was then that Dr Crowler walked into the classroom. "Dr Crowler, tell everyone this is a mistake. Tell them I belong up here!"

"But you don't. And you haven't since you lost that one duel to oh… who was it now? Ah yes, I remember, Jaden Yuki... A SLIFER! Which is why tomorrow you will duel Bastion Misawa, and if you lose to him as well, you two will switch dorms."

"You mean… I'd become a Ra Yellow duelist!?"

"Yes, very good." Crowler said, even applauding in amusement. "Now if you could only duel as well as you listen."

Chazz growled in embarrassment and ran out of the room, the other students' laughter following him. "I WON'T BE A RA!"

"Switching dorms? So that's why Bastion was talking to Crowler." Shiori thought.

"Yeah." Andrew added. He was then thinking about it. _'But that doesn't seem like the kind of thing he would_ _capitalize on. He would rather get there by himself, not by taking down others. But still, I'm glad that Bastion was given such an opportunity.'_

* * *

Since they were free after gym class, Jaden, Syrus and Bastion headed to the Ra Yellow dorm.

"Alright alright, maybe it wasn't a foul, Bastion." Jaden said, talking about the earlier baseball game.

"Jaden, over the center field fence usually isn't." Syrus added.

"Look, I play like I duel, with formulas." Bastion showed a baseball bat with a bunch of formulas written on it. "See, I find that science, statistics, geometry, they play a role in everything that we do in life."

"Wow, I never looked at it that way." Jaden admitted.

"So, do you have a formula for everything, Bastion?"

The Ra student laughed a little at Syrus' question. He led them into the Ra's dorm, which the two Slifers thought certainly looked better than theirs. Bastion led Jaden and Syrus to his dorm room. "And here we are." He said as he opened the door.

When they entered, the two Slifers let out a gasp. The walls and ceiling were covered with equations and formulas. "And where's here?"

"My lab, my workshop and also my dorm room." He pointed to wall next to his bed. "That area is for traps." He then pointed to the ceiling above his desk. "That's for spell cards." Finally he pointed to another part of the ceiling. "And that's well… you get the idea. Most of these I've memorized. And as you can see, I'm running out of room. So…"

"So what?" The two Slifers asked

"So" He held up a mop and paints bucket. "Mind Helping? I could use a couple extra hands. Especially since Andrew's still in class."

"Sure." The three set out to whitewash the walls of Bastion's dorm room.

"Check it out, I'm Michelangelo." Jaden said as he painted the ceiling while standing on the stepladder. Syrus and Bastion laughed at his joke. "Get it? Cause I'm painting the Ceilinnng!" Jaden lost his footing and his hold on the brush. The brush went flying right into Syrus' face.

"You do realize… this means war, Jay." Syrus said with his face covered in paint.

"Ah!" Jaden panicked. "Now look Sy, it was an accident." But Syrus ignored him and picked up a bucket of paint with intention of throwing its contents at Jaden in retaliation.

"That's enough." Bastion said. "Give me that paint." Syrus threw the paint at Jaden who abandoned the stepladder and jumped off of it, causing the paint to miss and splash Bastion right in the face. Jaden and Syrus burst into laughter. "Funny is it?" Bastion smacked Jaden's face with a rag. That got Jaden steamed who immediately fought back with his paint brush.

It was pretty much a paint war after that.

* * *

After having terminated their little skirmish, the boys washed up and managed to finish painting Bastion's room. After that, the Ra Yellow student invited Jaden and Syrus to the Ra Yellow cafeteria where they saw Andrew and Shiori eating together. "Hello there." Bastion greeted his fellow Ra students.

"Oh hey Bastion." Shiori greeted back.

"Hey Bastion." Andrew greeted. "Oh, I see you brought Jaden and Syrus with ya."

"I had them help out in painting my room, so I'm treating them to dinner."

"Well then, grab some food and join us!" The ritual duelist asked.

"And who are you?" Jaden asked the blonde boy.

"Me? I'm Shiori Koizumi."

The Slifer made an expression of recognition. "Oh, I've heard about you. You're that ritual duelist who challenged Andrew, right? From what he told me, you really gave him some fight."

The blonde boy grinned sheepishly. "I sure did. But the best duelist won in the end. Anyway, how about you guys grab some food?" He offered.

And just a few moments later, the two Slifers were sat in front of the three Ra students and were chowing down like it was an eating contest.

"I don't think I've ever had such a good time of painting." Jaden said as he shoved a piece of fish into his mouth. "Bastion, Andrew, Shiori, you guys are alright."

"Yeah and so is Ra Yellow's food." Syrus agreed.

"Oh, you flatter us." Bastion said as he brought own tray over to sit down. "But I'm sure it's not that much better than Slifer's."

Jaden and Syrus' eyes bugged out upon seeing the lobster on his plate. "Trust me, the closest we get to lobsters is our dorm cat's breath." Jaden remarked.

"Really?" Shiori asked, astonished at the comment. "That makes me wonder what you guys get to eat. This academy's got you living like bottom dwellers."

"Speaking of bottom dwellers, what were you talking to Crowler about back at the game?" Syrus asked.

"Actually, he wants me to test to become an Obelisk." Bastion answered.

"Are you serious?" Jaden asked.

"Is that why you were cleaning up your room?" Syrus asked

"Cause you're switching dorms?"

"It's true." Andrew spoke up. "Shiori and I heard it from Crowler himself."

"Well you deserve it, congrats Bastion." Jaden smiled.

"Again, you flatter me." Bastion said, trying to endure the praise.

"You're good. I saw your duel during the entrance exams." Jaden said, referring to the mentioned duel Bastion had...

* * *

 **Flashback**

On the field in front of the proctor were two defensive monsters known as Gear Golem the Moving Fortress (ATK: 800 **DEF: 2200** LV: 4) and Big Shield Gardna (ATK: 100 **DEF: 2600** LV: 4). On Bastion's field was a monster known as Vorse Raider. There was also a facedown card behind it.

Bastion revealed his facedown card; a trap card known as Ring of Destruction. When that happened, a metal ring with grenades appeared and attached itself around Vorse Raider's neck. The ring exploded and destroyed the monster, causing both players to take damage equal to its attack points.

 **Bastion: 3200-1300**

 **Proctor: 1900-0000**

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"You kicked that duel proctor's butt. You'll totally pass Crowler's test and be an Obelisk Blue. And we can can say we knew you well." Both Jaden and Syrus said the last part.

"Well thank you."

"You're welcome. Now if you excuse me…" As the five students dug into their respective meals, Bastion just looked at them with a sad smile on his face.

* * *

Meanwhile in the Obelisk Blue boys' dorm, Chazz was sitting on the couch in his room, talking with two men shown on the television screen in front of him. Both wore suits and ties and had a stern look on their faces. The one on the left had brown hair, while the other had black hair and a little goatee. Those two happened to be his older brothers, Slade and Jagger. "Got it Chazz?" Slade asked.

"Yeah." He replied unenthusiastically.

"I can't hear you."

"I said yes, I understand."

"Well you had better. The Princeton Brothers have a plan. Your brother and I are following through our ends of it."

Jagger spoke up. "And you had better be following though with yours Chazz. Come on, just think of it little bro. The world of politic, finance and duel monsters. If we control them all, then we will control the entire world. So be the best. The future of the Princeton family depends on it. It depends on you." The screen then shut off abruptly.

 _'Be the best?'_ Chazz thought to himself. He got up and looked through the window. In the distance he could see Jaden and Syrus. _'How can I be the best with lucky punks like those guys out there?'_ He then saw Bastion walk up to them before all three of them took off down the path that led to the Slifer dorm. _'What is this? Bastion's heading off to the Slifer dorm for the night. Then his dorm will be all empty.'_ That gave Chazz an idea.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Slifer dorm, Jaden and Bastion were sound asleep in Jaden, Syrus and Chumley's room. Since there were no spare mattress and three bed bunks couldn't accommodate four guys, Jaden pulled his mattress onto the floor and he and Bastion were sleeping on it. Both of them were snoring right now, as Chumley and Syrus looked down at them.

"Hey Sy, what's that Ra doing here?" Chumley asked.

"He painted his room today," Syrus explained. "So we let him crash here."

"But Syrus, he's a Ra Yellow. What if he wakes up and wants to duel one of us, or make fun of one of us? How do you know we can trust him?"

"Relax Chumley, he's cool. He's one of Andrew's friends, so we can trust him. Also he let us eat at the Ra meal hall."

"Oh, he can have my bed if he wants."

* * *

At the Ra dorm early in the morning, before the sun had risen, Andrew had just woken up and dressed up for his usual morning training. He was about to leave, when he suddenly heard someone walking outside. He slowly opened the door and looked outside. "Huh?" To his surprise, he saw Chazz walk up to a desk standing up against the wall next to Bastion's dorm room. _'Chazz? What's he doing here?'_ To answer his question, Chazz opened one of the drawers and took out what appeared to be a deck of duel monster cards. Andrew knew for an instant that it was Bastion's deck, and Chazz was trying to steal it. "Hey!"

"What the…?" Chazz jumped as he saw Andrew stepping out of his dorm room. He then made a break for it.

"Stop! Get back here!" Andrew chased after him. The chase led to the docks, where Chazz stopped, and so did Andrew. "You won't get any longer."

"That's fine," The Obelisk boy replied. "Because here's exactly where I need to be." He then took Bastion's deck, and then… threw it in the ocean. Andrew gasped as Chazz laughed. "Now there's no way anyone will take MY spot away from me!"

Andrew gave him a hard glare. "I can't believe you would do something like that."

Chazz scoffed. "So what? I deserve to be the best at this academy. And I'll do whatever it takes to become the best."

"And you think throwing away your opponent's deck makes you a strong duelist?" Someone spoke up from a distance. They turned to see Michael walking up to them with a stern look on his face. He was dressed in his Obelisk uniform with his duel disk on his arm. "If that's how you treat your opponents, then you're more lowly than I thought."

"Michael?" Andrew said.

"What are you doing here?" Chazz demanded.

"I saw you sneaking out from the dorm, and decided to see what you were up to. With that said, I won't let you trash someone else's deck and get away with it."

"Hmph. Are you actually defending a Ra Yellow? I can't believe someone like you could be an Obelisk."

"At least I earned my place in the blue dorm because of my hard work and determination. You on the other hand are just a spoiled rich boy who would rather use rare cards and harass lower ranked students without taking time to improve yourself."

Chazz was now very pissed by Michael. "That's it! No one talks to me like that! If you're so tough, then bring it." He challenged as he revealed his duel disk.

Michael was about to activate his duel disk, but Andrew stopped him. "Hold on a second Michael. Let me handle him."

The purple haired Obelisk boy was a little surprised by this. "Are you sure?"

"I am. The cards in the ocean belongs to one of my Ra Yellow friends. If anyone should teach Chazz a lesson, it's me."

After seeing the determination in Andrew's eyes, Michael gave him a smirk and his duel disk. "Alright then, he's yours."

Chazz scoffed. "Whatever, that won't change anything." He said.

"DUEL!" The players activated their duel disks and drew their initial hands.

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Chazz: 4000**

"You better be ready, because I won't hold anything back." Andrew declared and drew his sixth card. "I'll start with the spell card Polymerization and fuse Elemental HERO Ocean and Elemental HERO Shadow Mist to create Elemental HERO Absolute Zero." The two named monsters sucked into a fusion vortex and came out as the white armored and ice cold warrior. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 2000 LV: 8) "And next I activate Shadow Mist's special ability. As soon as she's sent to the graveyard, I'm allowed to take a HERO monster from my deck and add it to my hand. I choose Elemental HERO Lady Heat, and I think I'll summon her to the field right now." The white and orange clad female hero appeared beside the icy warrior. ( **ATK: 1300** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "And to end my turn, I activate her special ability. During my end phase, you take 200 points of damage for every Elemental HERO on my side of the field." Lady Heat conjured a fireball in her right hand and threw it at Chazz.

 **Chazz: 4000-3600**

"Heh, not bad, Andrew." Michael commented

"Please, that's nothing compared to what I have in store for you." Chazz said, drawing his next card. "First I activate the spell card Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards from my deck. Then I activate the spell card Tribute to the Doomed. By discarding one card from my hand, I can destroy one monster on the field. Your Absolute Zero goes bye bye." A bunch of mummies erupted from the ground and dragged down the icy hero. "Now I can take you down without triggering your zero's ability. I summon X-Head Cannon." The humanoid machine with its twin cannons appeared. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "Then I'll play the spell card Frontline Base, which allows me to summon a level four or below union monster from my hand, like Y-Dragon Head." The red dragon machine appeared beside the first machine monster. ( **ATK 1500** DEF: 1600 LV: 4) "And now I activate the spell card Premature Burial, allowing me to summon a monster from my graveyard by paying 800 life points."

 **Chazz: 3600-2800**

"So now I'll bring back the monster I discarded earlier, Z-Metal Tank!" A yellow machine shaped like a tank's tracks appeared aside the others. "( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1300 LV: 4) "And now I'll combine them in order to form XYZ-Dragon Cannon." The dragon lost its wings and set itself on the tank, while the other machine dropped on top of it. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 2600 LV: 8) "And thanks to his special ability, I can discard the last card in my hand to destroy your monster." As soon as Chazz discarded his last card, he fusion machine charged up its cannons and fired them at Lady Heat, taking her down into pixels. "And now you're totally defenseless. Dragon Cannon, direct attack!" Andrew braced himself as the fusion machine launched another cannon blast in front of him.

 **Andrew: 4000-1200**

"And now it's your turn, not that you can do anything about it."

"We'll see about that." Andrew drew his next card. "I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman." The red armored fire hero appeared. "And he's got a special ability; I can take a Polymerization from my deck and add it to my hand. And I'll use it right away. So I'll fuse Blazeman with Avian and Ice Edge from my hand so I can summon a new hero." The three named monsters merged together. "I summon Elemental HERO Core." The new monster was a man clad in a white armor with red lines and gems. ( **ATK: 2700** DEF: 2200 LV: 9) "I place one card facedown and my turn."

"Heh, is that all you got?" Chazz asked mockingly. He then drew his next card. "That monster won't save you from my Dragon Cannon's wrath, especially since I can discard a card to activate its special ability again." He discarded his card and the massive machine aimed at Andrew's monster. "Now fire!" The machine loaded up its cannons again and launched another blast at Andrew's monster. "And now you're defenseless." He said with a smirk on his face.

"Do you wanna bet?"

"Huh?" Chazz was confused by Andrew's question, until he noticed something floating in air in Core's place; A big red jewel. And then it started to glow brightly with a red light. It was so bright that both Chazz and Michael covered their eyes. Eventually, the light died down. When they opened their eyes, they saw a certain white armored warrior standing in front of Andrew. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 2000 LV: 8)

"Absolute Zero!" Michael exclaimed.

"What!?" Chazz was more surprised than him. "Where did he come from? How did you summon him?"

Andrew chuckled a bit. "This was actually possible, all thanks to you."

"Say what?"

"My Core has a special ability; when he's destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I'm allowed to summon a level 8 or lower Elemental HERO fusion monster from my graveyard."

Chazz could hardly believe it. _'It can't be! That Ra reject planned this all along!'_

"So, are you going to attack me?" Andrew asked.

The black haired Obelisk boy just growled.

"I'll take that as a no." He said and drew a card. "I activate the trap card Call of the Haunted. This lets summon a monster from my graveyard, and I choose Elemental HERO Ocean." The aquatic hero appeared beside the ice cold warrior. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And with him out on the field, I can activate his special effect. During my standby phase, I can take a HERO monster from my field or graveyard and return it to my hand. The one I choose is Ice Edge." The named card ejected from his duel disk, and Andrew placed it in his hand. "Oh, did I mention Absolute Zero has another special ability? He gets 500 extra attack points for every other water monster on the field, like Ocean." The white armored hero was suddenly surrounded by a strengthening aura. ( **ATK: 2500-3000** )

"3000 attack points!?" Chazz exclaimed.

"Yes, and for my next move, I summon Elemental HERO Ice Edge." The kid with spiky armor appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 900 LV: 3) "And since he's a water attribute monster, my Absolute Zero gets even stronger." ( **ATK: 3000-3500** )

"No way!"

"Oh, this is gonna hurt." Michael commented.

"Absolute Zero, attack his Dragon Cannon with Raging Blizzard!" The icy hero created a powerful blizzard and froze the giant machine solid. And just a couple of seconds later, the monster shattered, causing a cold windstorm to blow over the Princeton.

 **Chazz: 2800-2100**

"And now I'll have my two other heroes attack you directly." The aquatic hero used his trident to stab Chazz ,and then the icy kid gave him an ice cold punch in the face, causing him to fall down.

 **Chazz: 2100-0000**

"No! There's no way I was defeated by a Ra!"

"But that's what just happened." Michael replied. "This is what you get for cheating."

Chazz growled and stood up. "Hmph. No matter. The deed is already done. Without his deck, your nerdy friend won't be able to duel me." Andrew and Michael watched as he ran off. What Chazz didn't know however, was that Alexis and Jenny where standing nearby and witnessed the whole thing.

* * *

Later in the morning, Jaden, Syrus and Bastion were awoken by the sound of someone pounding on the door. "Jaden! Jaden, wake up!"

Jaden got up and opened the door, revealing the card shop owner, Dorothy. "What is it Ms Dorothy?"

"I was at the docks unloading some goods near the shore, then I saw them… cards tossed everywhere!"

"Tossed!?" The three boys gasped at this and took in the direction she'd told them.

When they arrived, they found Dorothy's claims were correct, a bunch of cards were scattered among the water.

"That's Ring of Destruction!" Jaden pointed to the named trap card.

"And Vorse Raider!" Syrus saw the monster card.

"Bastion, these are all of your cards." Jaden identified.

"It's my own fault." Bastion. "This deck was in the desk I moved to the hallway yesterday when we were painting."

"Who would do something like this?" Syrus wondered in disbelief.

"Someone who doesn't want Bastion to advance to Obelisk blue." Someone spoke from behind. The group turned to see Andrew approach them.

"Andrew? What are you doing here?" Jaden asked.

"I was about to tell you guys about the cards in the water, that is until I saw Ms Dorothy notice them and ran to you. So I waited here to tell you the whole story about this."

"So you know who did it?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah, I do…" And so, Andrew told the group about the whole incident. When he was finished...

"No way! I can't believe Chazz would do something like that." Jaden said.

"I'm afraid that's the case." Andrew replied.

Jaden looked at Bastion. "What in the world are you gonna do now, Bastion? Your promotion exam is in less than an hour."

"Don't worry about that." He assured him. "I have a plan."

* * *

The four boys arrived at the main dueling arena, where Crowler and Chazz were waiting. "Bastion, you made it." He greeted him. When he noticed the other boys, he frowned. "Oh, and I see you brought some friends.

"I hope you duel better than the company you keep." Chazz smirked.

"Well I believe he's way better than you, Chazz," Andrew replied with a glare. "Especially since you were cheating by tossing his cards into the ocean."

"Pardon?" Crowler asked.

"I don't know what he's talking about Dr Crowler, I didn't do a thing." Chazz denied.

"Oh, is that so?" They all turned to see Zane, Alexis, Jenny and Michael standing in the entrance. "We saw you Chazz, this morning by the water, when Andrew chased you to the docks, you dumped those cards into the water." Alexis said. "I normally wouldn't snitch, but you don't mess with someone's deck."

"Yeah, no joke. That's low, even for you." Jaden said.

"Oh come on, who's to say I wasn't throwing away my own cards?" Chazz said, still lying. "I guess Bastion and I just have similar decks, that's all."

"You're lying Chazz, we saw you!" Jenny argued. "Especially after Andrew beat you in a duel."

"No one calls me a liar and no one calls me a thief!" Chazz snapped. "You don't have any proof that I threw Bastion's cards away or that I dueled someone earlier."

"Fine, then you're not and we don't," Bastion said. "Let's just have our duel, shall we?"

"But how?" Jaden asked.

"A good duelist always has a spare deck, or a few of them." Bastion unzipped his yellow jacket. "After all you saw all of my formulas. Well they were for all my different dueling decks!" He opened up his jacket, revealing six pouches each containing a deck of duel cards in it. "And each one of them is as powerful as the next."

Chazz grimaced, as he saw from keeping Bastion from taking the exam had failed. "Yeah well you could go ahead and have your six stinking decks, cause all I need is this one. Now let's start."

Bastion nodded. "I thought that you would never ask, Chazz. Duel disk on." He activated his duel disk and inserted one of his decks. "You're just a problem to be solved, Chazz, a theorem to be cracked. You're finished."

"So bring it on!"

"DUEL!"

 **Bastion: 4000**

 **Chazz: 4000**

"Hope you're ready. Cause here comes the hurt. I summon Chthonian Soldier." A warrior wearing pieces of dark armor and holding a curved sword appeared in front of Chazz. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "Then a card facedown and that'll do it for now." He concluded after a facedown card appeared behind his monster.

"Oh will it now?" Bastion asked.

"Sounds like Bastion's got something up his sleeve." Jaden commented.

"He works quickly." Alexis said as she and the other Obelisk walked up to Jaden, Syrus and Andrew.

"Bastion's smart, he'll win this." Andrew said.

"I summon Hydrogeddon in attack mode. Rise, Hydrogeddon!" A geyser of brownish water erupted in front of Bastion. When it settled, there was a watery dinosaur monster of the same color with an amphibian tail. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "Now attack Chthonian Soldier with Hydro Gust. Destroy him!" The brownish dinosaur let out a blast of water from its mouth that destroyed the opposing monster.

"Thanks, you just activated my Chthonian Soldier's special ability!" Chazz announced. "It causes you to take the same amount of damage to your life points that I did."

 **Bastion: 4000-3600**

 **Chazz: 4000-3600**

"Not bad." Zane commented.

"Bastion sure walked right into that one." Jaden said.

"I activate a special ability also. You see Chazz, when Hydrogeddon successfully destroys a monster in battle, I'm allowed to immediately summon another Hydrogeddon from my deck. So rise, Hydrogeddon." A geyser erupted next to water dinosaur, from which appeared a duplicate of it. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "And my battle phase still continues, which means I can now wage a direct attack against you Chazz. So go Hydrogeddon, Hydro Gust!" The second monster fired a blast of water at Chazz, knocking him down in the process.

 **Chazz: 3600-2000**

"Whoa, didn't see that coming." Andrew commented.

"No joke." Michael agreed. "Even with Chthonian Soldier's ability, he was able to cause so much damage in one turn."

"You'll pay for that." Chazz said as he got p on his feet. "I activate my trap card Call of the Haunted. With it, I can summon one monster from my graveyard. And the monster I summon is… that's right, Chthonian Soldier!" The dark armored warrior rose from the grave. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "Next I'll activate the spell Inferno Reckless Summon. It allows us both to summon in attack mode, any monsters from our deck, hand and graveyard that are the same as the monsters we already have on the field." Two more Chthonian Soldiers appeared beside the first. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1400 LV: 4) x2 And a third Hydrogeddon was summoned on Bastion's side of the field. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1000)

"It makes no sense." Alexis said. "It doesn't matter how many of those Chazz brings out, they still don't have enough attack points to beat those Hydrogeddons."

"Not by themselves they won't." Jenny said as Chazz took a card from his hand.

"I activate the equip spell card Chthonian Alliance. The monster equipped with this card gains 800 attack points for every monster that has the same name as him. That brings his attack points for total to…well you're the math nerd, you can figure it out." The soldier on Chazz's left was surrounded by a dark energy and grew three times its normal size. ( **ATK: 1200-3600** ) "Attack, Chthonian Soldier!" The super powered Chthonian Soldier swung its blade through one of Bastion's Hydrogeddons, taking out a chunk of his life points.

 **Bastion: 3600-1600**

"Oh no!" Jaden exclaimed.

"Ohh, not good." Andrew said.

"Bastion's life points have gone down by more than half." Syrus said. "He's losing the duel."

"Bravo, good show." Bastion drew his next card, hardly affected by his large loss of life points. "But it will be short lived. Rise, Oxygeddon." A Pteranadon made of green air appeared from an Oxygen geyser. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 800 LV: 4) "Now attack one of the 1200 attack points Chthonian Soldiers with Vapor Stream!" The hovering monster spat out a blast of air that destroyed one of Chazz's weaker monsters.

 **Chazz: 2000-1400**

"Forget?" Chazz sneered. "When my soldier's destroyed, you take the same damage as me. Some Wiz kid you are."

 **Bastion: 1600-1000**

"My turn's not through. Next, my Hydrogeddon attacks another of your soldiers!" One of the two water dinosaurs destroyed the weaker soldier.

"That damage is still all going back to you, loser!"

 **Chazz. 1400-1000**

 **Bastion: 1000-0600**

"Aww man, why does Bastion keep attacking? He's only hurting himself." Syrus moaned.

"Nah he's fine." Jaden assured Syrus.

"Bastion's playing smart." Zane added. "The Chthonian Soldier with the equip magic card has 3600 attack points. Bastion would have to summon an incredibly powerful monster to destroy him. Unless however…" The giant lost most of its height and power. ( **ATK: 3600-2000** )

"Wait, I see, unless he takes out the other Chthonians, and lowers the big one's attack points." Syrus realized.

"Right Sy, so if Bastion's gonna beat that thing, he's gotta give up some life points." Jaden said.

"It's just what they say; No pain, no gain." Michael added.

"Last I place a facedown card and that will do for now." A facedown card appeared at Bastion's feet.

"Will it?" Chazz taunted and drew a card. "I wouldn't be so sure, Wiz Kid. I'm sacrificing Chthonian Soldier and all the cards in my hand in order to summon Infernal Incinerator. Didn't see that coming, did ya?"

"Infernal Incinerator?" Bastion asked with a shocked tone.

The soldier was wrapped in a ball of fire which then exploded in a cloud of smoke. A giant fiend salamander appeared with the top half of Chthonian Soldier on its forehead. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 1800 LV: 6)

"Better break out your calculator, cause if you can't find a formula to beat this guy this turn, you're toast."

"I think Chazz is a little overconfident right now." Andrew commented.

"I know." Jenny replied. "During your duel, he wasted so many cards from his hand, he didn't have anything to give his monster some back up, just like he's doing now."

"Face it Bastion, you don't stand a chance against the Infernal Incinerator." Chazz said. "Especially since his attack points increase by 200 for every monster you have out on the field." ( **ATK: 2800-3400** )

"That thing has 3400 attack points!?" Jaden said in surprise. "That means no matter which monster receives the attack, Bastion's finished!"

"Now, Infernal Incinerator, attack with Firestorm Blast!" The giant monster launched a stream of fire from its mouth at Oxygeddon.

"Bastion!" The students watching cried as the attack neared his monster.

"I activate my trap, Amorphic Barrier." A wall of ice rose up around Bastion's monsters, blocking the attack. "When I have three or more monsters on my side of the field, this trap negates my opponent's attack and ends the battle. But nice try, Chazz."

"Hah, so what? One turn, that's all it buys you, then you'll be all mine."

"I'm afraid there won't be a next turn."

"What?"

"You heard me, and I activate the spell card Bonding H2O. I sacrifice two Hydrogeddons and one Oxygeddon and summon Water Dragon!" The three monsters turned into geysers that combined to form a serpentine-dragon made of water that let out a cry as it appeared. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 2600 LV: 8) "And since the number of monsters on my side of the field decreased, Infernal Incinerator's attack points decrease." ( **ATK: 3400-3000** )

"Doesn't matter, my monster's attack points are still higher than yours." Chazz smirked.

"Better double check your work, because I've already done all the math."

"All the math?" Crowler asked in surprise. "You mean that…"

"Bastion's had all this planned out since the very start!" Jaden realized.

"I thought as much." Andrew said while smiling.

Water Dragon created a tidal wave that crashed into Infernal Incinerator, washing away all its strength. ( **ATK: 3000-0** ) "No, his attack points!" Chazz cried out.

"Indeed, that's Water Dragon's special ability." Bastion explained. "You see, when he's out on the field, the attack points of fire attribute and pyro type monsters automatically becomes zero. Now Water Dragon attack! Tidal Blast!" The blue dragon fired a stream of water from its mouth, wiping out Infernal Incinerator, knocking Chazz off the stage and dousing the arena in water.

 **Chazz: 1000-0000**

"A well played duel Chazz," Bastion said when the water receded." But not well enough."

"Pure luck." Chazz replied. "You drew a lucky card and stumbled into the win. That's all!"

"Perhaps, but luck favors the prepared. And I was prepared to beat you with a half dozen other cards as well. Sorry, you would have lost the duel one way or another. But deny it if you want, just like you denied throwing my deck into the ocean."

"Yeah, prove it!"

"Well, if you insist. Here, a card I fished out." Bastion held out the Vorse Raider card. Everyone noticed that there were some math equations on the card's face. "With the formula I wrote on it. I suppose you could have written it, but then the math would have probably been wrong and it's not. Plus…" He looked back to Andrew. "I also had one of my fellow Ras track you down to the docks, and you lost to him as badly as you did to me. Chazz, you stole, you lied, you cheated, you lost. You deserve to be demoted."

"This can't be!" Chazz said disbelieved.

"I just hope I don't need to hear his complaints from the Ra dorm everyday." Andrew joked, earning a giggle from Jenny.

"Bastion Misawa," Crowler said. "Congratulations and welcome to Obelisk Blue."

"No, I must decline that invitation."

"What? But what for?"

"When I first arrived at the academy, I decided I will only enter Obelisk Blue when I became the number one student in the freshman class." Bastion turned his attention to Jaden and Andrew. "Jaden, Andrew, out of all the new duelists, I think you two are the best."

"Hey thanks!" Andrew said.

"Does that mean you want to settle this right here?" Jaden asked. "I mean seeing you guys duel really made me want to get my game on."

"Sorry, but not now."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Because I have a lot of work to do before I duel either of you. Many formulas to write, theorems to solve, equations to balance. You're good duelists, and I planned to be ready."

"Smart move." Jaden commented.

"He didn't have to prepare for me." Chazz growled. "He won with just one day's notice."

"Don't worry, soon my dorm room will be filled with new strategies, then we'll duel. Just be prepared for it to turn out like that ball game. You know, the one yesterday when our team beat yours."

"You just keep dreaming Bastion. Baseball's a past time, but dueling's my life!" Jaden said.

"And just because we're in the same dorm, doesn't mean I will go easy on you." Andrew added.

"Until then, pal." Jaden said.

"Alright, until then it is." Bastion said.

* * *

 **Another chapter done. Until next time.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Monkey See, Monkey Duel**

Nighttime hung over Academy Island like a blanket. It was very peaceful in the main building, the three dorms, the docks and all the other structures. One building in particular could be found deep in the forest. In a remote corner of the island, a hidden facility was stationed. It was very quiet around this place… until the sound of breaking glass was heard, followed up the sound of an alarm.

 **"Code red! I repeat, Code red!"** A voice spoke through speakers.

Inside the facility, scientists and men wearing suits ran about, many of them holding tranquilizer guns. "The specimen can't escape, no matter what." One of the men in suits said.

Somewhere else in the building, a monkey with some tech helmet and a duel disk was running out of a room, heading to an elevator. The doors opened, revealing a guard with a gun. He was about to shoot the monkey, but it was too fast and jumped on him, then through the roof of the elevator. It rode the elevator to the top where it broke a window and escaped into the night.

* * *

The next morning, Chazz walked out of the school with a small bag slung over his shoulder. He looked at the academy with a sneer on his face. "Stinking Duel Academy. You demote me. You laugh at me. Well that's it. I've had it." He walked further away from the school. "You won't have me to kick around anymore."

* * *

Later on in the day, the students were waiting for Professor Banner to start class. Syrus ran though the doors, straight to Jaden.

"Jaden, it's awful. Chazz is gone!

"And that's awful how?" The Elemental HERO duelist asked.

"Well, gee I don't know. Because he's your big duel rival?"

"You're right. I need my competition."

Andrew was a little surprised by this news. _'It seems like Chazz is more of a sore loser than I thought, if he's skipping out on the academy.'_

"Hey you know, I saw Chazz packing his stuff late last night." One Obelisk said.

"Know why? Because he lost to that Ra." Another said.

"Bastion, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, and I've heard he lost to another Ra Yellow. That Andrew guy."

"He also lost to some Slifer."

"Yeah, if you can't beat the ketchup and mustard team, good riddance." The Obelisks then laughed.

"What a bunch of jerks." Jaden said. "I'll tell ya, if those were the only friends I had, I'd probably run away too."

"Jaden." Syrus said to his roommate.

"Hm?"

"Well, I know Chazz has been a pain in the past, but what if he's in some trouble and needs us to help him."

"Good point. The right thing to do would be go look for him."

"Yeah. So when should we go?"

"Right now, Sy. After all, its also a great excuse to sneak out of class." Jaden and Syrus went out of the classroom. Alexis, Jasmine, Mindy and Jenny left soon after.

"Hmm." Andrew thought he should go after as well, so he left the classroom.

* * *

Jaden and Syrus crawled out of a hole in a wall.

"All clear." Jaden said as he confirmed it was no one there.

As they got up and dusted themselves off...

"You know," A feminine voice spoke up, making the Slifers let out a scream. "This school does have regular doors." They turned to see Alexis, Jasmine, Mindy and Jenny.

"Oh, hey Alexis. I bet you're wondering what we're doing out here. Well we were just um… getting an early start on our homework."

"Yeah right." Alexis said sarcastically. "You're looking for Chazz. And we're going to come with you."

"Really? Since when did you guys ditch class?" Jaden asked.

"Chazz is an Obelisk Blue and we take care of our own." Jenny replied.

"And besides, you two might need some help." Another voice spoke up. The group turned to see Andrew approaching them.

"Andrew? You're looking for Chazz too?" Syrus asked.

"Of course. I heard you two talking about it. I just want to help two of my best friends, that's all." He explained.

"That's cool." Jaden replied with a smile on his face.

* * *

The boys and girls were walking around in the forest, searching for Chazz.

"Chazz! Chazz!" Jaden called out.

"Come on out!" Syrus called out.

"Yeah, we're worried about ya, you scrub!"

"Where are you Chazz?" Andrew called out.

"That's it…" Alexis said, deciding that she'd run out of patience. She took a deep breath and… "CHAZZ, YOU LITTLE TOAD, IF THIS IS SOME KIND OF TRICK, YOU BETTER HOPE THAT WE DON'T FIND YOU, YOU GOT THAT!?" Her voice echoed through the tress, causing birds to leave out.

"Yeah, threatening him, that'll bring him running." Jaden said sarcastically.

"You know, I'm sure that there's a good reason Chazz ran off." Jasmine said calmly.

"Yeah like, maybe he just snuck out to get me flowers." Mindy said with a dreamy look. "My Chazzy is so romantic!"

"Chazzy?" Syrus asked as he and Jaden thought how strange she was acting.

"You like Chazz?" Jasmine asked. "Last week it was Bastion. And before that it was Andrew. Who's next, little Syrus?"

"Well he _is_ cute." Mindy replied.

Andrew blinked at the girls' conversation. "Did she just say that Mindy liked me?"

"Never mind that." Jenny replied while shaking her head. "Mindy is a little boy crazy, she would fall for any guy she gets interested in."

"Hmm." Alexis hummed.

"What?" Jaden asked.

"Look there." She pointed a bush. "Something's moving."

Everyone followed her glance to see something rustling in the bushes.

"I don't see anything." Jaden said.

"Chazzy?" The rustling continued.

"Must be." Syrus said.

"All right, game's over, we found ya." Jaden said as the group approached the bush. "Come on out. Chazz?"

A figure leapt from the bush, scaring the group and plowed right into them, creating a scuffle a few seconds before running back into the woods. The group got up after the brawl.

"Not Chazz." Alexis said.

"Not human either." Syrus added. "What was that thing?"

The group then heard someone or something else approaching them, making Jaden even more frightened.

"What now?" Jenny asked.

What appeared in front of the group were three men wearing suits. One of them was shorter than the others and had gray hair and beard. One of the other two was wearing sun glasses and holding a gun. The third one was taller than any of them and was wearing normal glasses. "He's gone."

They all heard a girl's scream and the six remaining kids realized just who was missing.

"Jasmine!" The group looked around until they heard her scream again.

"Up in those trees!" Jaden said. Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing at and saw the figure that attacked them earlier. They could see the figure was in fact a monkey holding Jasmine and leaping through the trees with her.

"It's what she always wanted." Mindy said. "Some guy to sweep her off her feet."

"Yeah, some guy, not some monkey." Alexis replied.

"Put. me. down. NOW!" She told the monkey who carried her.

"Over there." One of the men said.

"Move."

"Wait, what's going on?" Syrus asked. "What is that thing?"

"Who cares," Jaden said. "It's got Jasmine and we've gotta follow it." At that the six kids ran after them.

Jasmine was frantically trying to tell the monkey to let her go to no avail, and it carried her as it kept through the woods, over a river and ending at a cliff with a tree. After landing at the tree, Jasmine was hanging on the primate for dear life. "Please, don't let me go! Don't let me go, don't let me go, don't let me go!"

The three men arrived soon after.

"Aim the tranq and fire when ready." The tall one ordered.

"Help, save me! Someone get this monkey off of me!"

"Blast! We can't tranq him or else he'll drop the girl."

It was at that moment when Jaden and the others arrived. Which Jaden noticed the helmet and duel disk the monkey was wearing. "Hey, that monkey's got a duel disk on."

"You're right." Syrus said.

"It's either that or a really funny-looking banana."

"That's no banana." The short man said. "And that's no regular monkey. His name's Wheeler. He's a trained duelist."

"A dueling monkey?" Jaden asked.

"Sir." The tall man whispered.

"Oh yes, I forgot, top secret."

"Wait, if he duels, let me duel him." Jaden suggested.

"Duel him? Can't you see we have a situation here?"

"Uh yeah. That's why I want to duel him."

"Jaden, are you feeling okay?" Syrus asked.

"He's not sick, he's just gone bananas." Jenny commented.

"Look. I bet if I beat this monkey, he'll hand over Jasmine. I mean It's only fair." Jaden stepped towards Wheeler. "So how about it Wheeler? Ready to get your game on?" Wheeler looked at Jaden. "That's right, banana-breath, put the girl down and let's settle this like men, or higher primates or whatever."

"Gotta hand it to him, they are communicating." Syrus commented.

"I don't get how that monkey understands him." Mindy said.

"Maybe all the training he's had has taught Wheeler how to speak human, or maybe Jaden's really a monkey." Alexis attempted to explain.

"Okay, so I win, Jasmine's free."

"And if you lose?" Jasmine worried.

"If I lose? Wow, I didn't really think of that. Okay, if Wheeler wins the duel, then we'll let him go."

Jasmine wasn't reassured by this. "Wait let _him_ go? Well where does that leave me?"

"Look, he's not gonna win. So don't worry about it, okay Jasmine" Jaden assured her.

The monkey stared at him for moment, before giving him a nod. He set Jasmine down on the tree and leapt onto a rock.

"What a weird first date." Jasmine whined.

The monkey screeched as it activated its duel disk.

"Wow, uh you really know how to work that thing, don't ya." Jaden said.

"I hope this works." Alexis said.

"All right, Wheeler. Let's throw down." Jaden challenged as he activated his duel disk.

"I have a shot." The man with the gun said as he took aim.

"No!" The old man said. "This duel is just the kind of field test we've been waiting for."

 _'All right, time to get down to business… monkey business.'_ "Ready or not, let's duel!" Jaden announced.

"Duel!" A computerized voice came from the helmet, making all the students very shocked.

"Whoa, it talks?" Syrus asked.

"Please, that would be completely unrealistic. His helmet reads his mind and speaks for him." The old man explained.

Jaden got over his astonishment, while Wheeler laughed. They both then drew their starting hands

 **Jaden: 4000**

 **Wheeler: 4000**

"Here goes." Jaden said as he drew his sixth card. _'Sweetness. Just the card to grease this monkey.'_ "Go, Elemental HERO Sparkman!" The golden armored electric hero appeared on Jaden's field. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "All right monkey, you saw my moves, now do yours. Get it? Monkey see, monkey do?"

"Jaden, there's no time for jokes now." Andrew groaned.

"My turn, my turn. Draw." Wheeler said as he drew. The helmet scanned the monster card he held. "Berserk Gorilla! Attack mode!" A large brown haired gorilla with red eyes appeared in front of the dueling monkey. ( **ATK: 2000** DEF: 1000 LV: 4)

"What's he, family?" Jaden joked. "Guess now we know who got the good looks."

"Berserk Gorilla, attack Sparkman! Attack, attack!" The beast ran forward on its knuckles and slugged Sparkman in the gut.

 **Jaden: 4000-3600**

The monkey made a couple of backflips before inserting a card into its duel disk. "Now, one card facedown, me through. Monkey see, monkey do! Bettter! I make monkey out of you! You! You!" Wheeler taunted, making Jaden growled.

"Jaden's losing the duel." Syrus said.

"Yeah, and he's losing his cool as well. But then, how could you not? I mean he is getting beat by a monkey" Alexis added.

"Hey come on, gimme a break, the duel just started. And it's about to heat up. Watch this" Jaden looked at the card he drew. "Perfect. I play the magic of Polymerization. With it, I fuse Elemental HERO Avian with Elemental HERO Burstinatrix to summon…" The two heroes combined in a whirlwind to form Jaden's signature monster. "Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!" ( **ATK: 2100** DEF: 1200 LV: 6) "Now, with Flame Wingman's help, I really will lose my cool. Go, Infernal Rage!" The winged hero blasted the gorilla with fire from his dragon arm. Wheeler screeched as he lost some of his life points.

 **Wheeler: 4000-3900**

"But I'm not done yet." Jaden said, getting the monkey's attention. "Next, I'll use Flame Wingman's super power; you lose life points equal to what your destroyed monster's attack points were. Now how's your cool?"

"Awesome, now Wheeler will lose 2000 life points. Nice Jaden." Syrus cheered.

"Yeah, but not so nice for our furry little friend." Alexis said.

The hero flew up to Wheeler and gave him a second blast of fire.

 **Wheeler: 3900-1900**

"I'm the man!" Jaden cheered. "I mean, nothing you could be, but you know. Uhh Wheeler, hello. You calling it quits already?" He asked as saw Wheeler sitting down, looking defeated.

"Ah, so is that it? Does that mean Wheeler's finished?" Syrus asked.

"Oh please." The old man said. "He just made one little mistake, that's all. But he won't make it again. Believe me, it's all part of his training. You see, back at the lab, if he made a mistake twice, he'd be harshly punished. We poked and prodded him that way for years. No, he won't give up, he'll just get better." The kids gasped at the info.

"Poked and prodded?" Syrus asked.

"Top secret." The taller man whispered.

"Oh, right. Never mind."

"So monkey, are you calling quits or what?" Jaden asked.

"Never surrender! Never!" Wheeler replied an drew a card.

"That's the spirit. Yeah! All right then game on!"

"I summon Acrobat Monkey. MONKEY!" A blue metallic monkey did a couple of flips before landing on the ground. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1800 LV: 3) "Next, I play my facedown. Trap! Trap! DNA Surgery! Go!"

"DNA Surgery!?" Andrew repeated. "That card changes all monsters on the field to any type that monkey chooses."

"I choose beast type, beast type." Flame Wingman's appearance was kind of the same, but more wolf-like. Acrobat Monkey turned into a real monkey under its armor. "Now I play, Wild Nature's Release!"

"Wild Nature's Release!?" Alexis said, realizing what's gonna happen next. "That spell card will increase the attack points of one beast type or beast-warrior type monster on the field by the value of its defense points. Wow, this monkey _is_ getting better!"

"Which means for Jaden it's… gonna get worse!" Syrus added.

"Acrobat Monkey, power up, power up!" The monkey monster flexed its muscles, breaking most of its armor until it only wearing its helmet. ( **ATK: 1000-2800** )

"Uh oh." Jaden let out.

"Go, Acrobat Monkey! Attack! Somersault Smash!" In a spinning somersault, the monkey struck Flame Wingman.

 **Jaden: 3600-2900**

After it attacked, the monkey held its head in pain until before it exploded in a shower of pixels. "Wait a sec. I don't get it. What just happened? Anyone?" Syrus asked.

"When Wild Nature's Release is used on a monster, that monster is destroyed at the turn's end." Alexis explained.

"Your turn, your turn!" Wheeler announced.

"Nice moves Wheeler, but no banana yet. Now here goes. Draw!" Jaden looked at the spell card he drew. _'All right, it's time to show this hostage taking hairball that it takes more than just opposable thumbs to be a good duelist.'_ He then picked another card from his hand. "I'm gonna play…" But was then interrupted by some more monkey noises. He looked to the side and a bunch of other monkeys behind some rocks.

"Uh oh. More monkeys." Syrus said.

"It's like an entire tribe of them." Mindy added.

 _'Wait a sec.'_ Jaden thought as he figured out the situation here. "That's why you were trying to escape, isn't it? To get back to your family."

"Must win! Miss family, miss family!" Wheeler replied.

"Look pal, I know you want to get back with your family, but I need to get back Jasmine. So unless you let her go, I gotta beat you. Which means I gotta summon the Elemental HERO Clayman!" The stone warrior rose in front of Jaden. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 2000 LV: 4)

"Don't forget, don't forget! DNA Surgey! Clayman turns into a beast type." The hero grew fur and turned into some kind of bear-like creature.

"Fine with me, that's not gonna matter when I play this," Jaden held up a the spell card he drew earlier. "Read them and weep; Courageous Charge! Oh yeah. Here's how it goes down, I take one of my monsters with 1000 attack points or less and pay 1000 life points,"

 **Jaden: 2900-1900**

"Then if my monster deals damage to your life points in battle, you also take damage equal to his defense points. Pretty sweet, huh? Now Elemental HER Clayman, attack Wheeler with Clay Clobberer! The bestial hero threw a transparent right to the monkey who was spooked by the attack.

 **Wheeler: 1900-1100**

"And now, thanks to Courageous Charge, his 2000 defense points are dealt to you too." Wheeler kneeled in defeat.

 **Wheeler: 1100-0000**

The helmet showed the picture of a sad monkey due to the loss of Wheeler's remaining life points.

"All right, he won." Syrus cheered.

"Well played Jaden." Andrew said.

"Fair's fair." Jaden said. "Time you let Jasmine go."

Wheeler stood there for a moment before he walked up to the tree, picked up Jasmine and put her on the ground. She ran to her friends.

"Jasmine!" They ran to her and embraced her.

"He reeked of bananas!"

"It's okay, you're safe now." Jenny said.

"Thanks for saving me." Jasmine said to Jaden. "But what happens to Wheeler now? He shouldn't have he snatched me, but he still deserves better than those needle poking scientist guys."

"All right you flea ridden failure," The man with the gun said. "Let's go."

Jaden placed himself between the three men and Wheeler. "Hold it. He doesn't belong with you. He belongs out here in nature. He belongs with his family. So that's where we're gonna leave him, got it?"

The three men were surprised by this.

"Then he can pick grubs, eat berries and ya know… other monkey stuff."

"It's alright Wheeler, we won't let them take you back to the lab." Syrus assured him.

"Because if you do, I'll call the TV-stations." Alexis said.

"And I'll call the newspapers." Mindy added.

"And it's goodbye top secret." Jasmine said.

"Enough nonsense, out of the way." The men pushed past Jaden and captured Wheeler in a net.

"Stop it!" Andrew and Jenny said.

"You think that your threats scare me?" The short man asked. "Please, you're just some kid. Who's gonna believe you? Not only will my lab work continue, but it will grow larger."

"How's that?" Jaden asked.

"Because I'm taking them all." The man with the gun aimed at the other monkeys. "Your friend won't miss his family. They'll all be there in cages with him."

But before the man with the gun had a chance to shoot any of them, a certain tabby cat appeared and hit his face causing him to drop the gun. "Tsk, tsk Pharaoh. Naughty kitty." The students turned to see a certain teacher pick up his cat.

"Professor Banner!"

"Who are you?" The short man asked.

"Oh you know, just your average teacher, duelist," He kicked up the gun and caught it in his hand. "Animal lover. If you gentlemen get what I'm saying."

The old man growled as he had no hope to take Wheeler back to the lab, so he and the other men left.

* * *

The kids removed Wheeler's equipment until he only had his duel disk left. He made his way to the other monkeys. "Oh look, it's like a family reunion." Syrus commented.

"It is." Jasmine added.

"Hey let's duel again sometime!" Wheeler let out some monkey sounds while waving back at Jaden. The Slifer did his trademark pose. "Me too. That was a super fun duel."

"Uhh Jaden… his talking helmet is gone, you know?" Syrus pointed out.

"Take care, Wheeler!" Andrew called out.

"It's a good thing you showed up." Jenny said to Banner. "Otherwise they would have taken him away for sure.

"How'd you find us professor?" Alexis asked.

"Like I said, I love animals. Of course, it'd be hard not to be with a cat who can track as well as Pharaoh."

"Yeah but why were looking for us in the first place?" Jaden asked.

"Well children, I wanted to tell you that Chazz is okay."

"That's godd news." Jaden said.

"Sure is." Syrus added.

Jasmine and Mindy laughed, being happy for those news.

"Of course, there is some bad news as well. Here, come with me." Banner led them to the docks. "You see, Pharaoh tracked him here to the docks, but when I arrived, he was already leaving on his family's personal yacht."

* * *

 **Flashback**

On the said yacht, Chazz was glaring towards the island. _'You haven't heard the last of Chazz Princeton, Duel Academy. No way.'_

Banner arrived in time to see the yacht drive away.

* * *

"Well that's a shame." Jaden said.

"Yeah I guess, he did make things interesting." Syrus agreed.

"My Chazzy." Mindy sighed.

"Well, I'm sure he'll be back someday." Jaden regained his positive attitude.

"Me too." Syrus added.

Alexis and Jenny nodded.

"After all, good rivals are hard to find."

"That's true." Andrew agreed.

"Yes, and do you know what is not? Class. And since you cut out early today, we have some making up to do. So let's go." The kids groaned as Banner led them back to the school.

* * *

 **Sorry guys, no OC-duel this time. But I should be able to make one next time. Until then.**


	12. Chapter 12

**The Night of Panik**

It was a cloudy night and the winds blew and flowed through the breezy air. Duel Academy was entering the fall season. Even though everything on the island looked the same, there have been some rainy days there, and the the temperature was relatively low sometimes. It was very peaceful around here, but unbeknownst to everyone who were sleeping, something was floating towards the island. A boat. A row boat to be exact. And someone was rowing it. Because of the darkness of the night, it was hard to see the appearance of the figure. Once the stranger reached the beach, they stepped out of the boat. Whoever the person was, they were like 7 feet tall.

"Duel Academy, get ready to Panik."

* * *

Today was a cheerful day at the academy and it was free day. Many students mingled with each other. A certain certain Ra Yellow walked through the hallway; Andrew.

"It's quite lively around here." He said to himself. He kept walking until he heard a couple of students talk about something.

"Hey, how do you think the Halloween festival will be like?" One Obelisk blue boy asked.

"I heard that there will be some carnival games, halloween snacks and for those who dare can stay to watch a horror movie." Another Obelisk said.

"Cool. I can't wait."

Andrew got interested by this. "Oh that's right. It's two days before it's Halloween."

"Then you better get prepared for a thriller night." Someone spoke up from behind. Andrew turned around to see Michael.

"Hey Michael. What are you doing around here?"

The dark-monster duelist shrugged. "Nothing special. Just enjoying the day. So, do you have any plans for the festival?"

"Well, I think I will invite Shiori. Oh! And maybe Jenny as well."

"Sounds good." Michael replied with a grin. "You think you're brave enough to watch the horror movie?"

Andrew scratched the back of his head,, as he had an unsure look on his face. "I'm not entirely sure. It would be nice to see a movie with my friends. But I don't know if I dare to watch something scary."

"Well, I'm sure the others will understand if you don't wanna." Michael then gave him a serious look. "Speaking of scary, have you read the news on the internet?"

"No. why do you ask?"

"Well, when I did that, I came across an article about some kind of incident. There were reports about people walking on the streets late at night being kidnapped by someone."

"Really?" Andrew asked with a surprised tone. "What did the kidnapper do to them."

"No one knows. Because the police never found the culprit. But they did found the victims tied up inside some abandoned places. Old factories, houses, etc."

"And why were they tied up?"

"That's what the police are trying to figure out. But get this, when they found the victims…" Michael turned his head from side to side before he continued. "They were trembling in fear, saying things like 'So dark, Horrible monsters'. It's like they've met something horrifying or something."

This made Andrew gulp a bit. Whoever did something like that must be a very terrifying person.

"Whoa, that sounds scary." Both boys jumped when a third person spoke up. They turned to see Jaden, Syrus and Chumley.

"Jaden? How long have you guys been standing there?" Andrew asked with an almost angry tone due to being surprised like that.

"Long enough to hear the story about this mysterious kidnapper. Who would have thought that someone kidnap people, just to scare them?"

"Well I'm just glad that kidnapper isn't here on the island." Syrus said. "It was bad enough with the abandoned dorm."

"Yeah, totally." Chumley agreed. "Sure, that masked man Jaden dueled was a sham, but everything we went through that place was pretty scary."

"Well, let's just hope that man will be brought to justice." Michael said. "Anyway, are you guys planning to attend the halloween festival?"

"You bet we do." Jaden replied excited. "I can't wait to try some of the games they're planning."

"Yeah, me neither." Syrus said.

"Same here." Chumley added.

"Well, I can't wait either." Michael replied. "I see you guys around." He said as he walked away.

"So, what are you gonna do, Andrew?" Jaden asked.

"Like I told Michael, I was about to invite Shiori and Jenny."

"Hey, that's cool. Well then, see ya later." And with that, Andrew and the Slifer trio went separate ways.

* * *

Andrew thought he should ask Shiori first. He headed to the Ra Yellow dorm to see if Shiori was in his dorm room. Just as he was about to enter…

"What's up Andrew?"

He turned around and saw the very person he was looking for.

"Hey Shiori. I was actually looking for you."

"And may I ask why?"

"Because I was wondering if you wanted to hang around at the festival."

"Sure, why not?" He replied, giving him a thumbs up.

"That's great. Now I just need to find Jenny." Andrew said as he was about to leave.

"Oh! You're gonna ask her as well?" Shiori asked.

"Yeah, that's right."

Shiori then held a small teasing smirk on his face. "Well then, go get her, Tiger." He went inside the dorm building.

Andrew raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?" He stood there for a moment before he shrugged and walked away.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jenny and Alexis were walking through the hallway of the school building. They heard other people talking about the upcoming festival.

"It's very clear how much everyone are looking forward to the Halloween festival." Jenny stated.

"No kidding. I would be lying if I say I'm not looking forward to it." Alexis replied. "Speaking of which, do you have any plans for the festival?"

"Well…" Jenny thought about it, wondering what she should do. And then an idea crossed her mind, with a small blush on her face. _'I wonder if Andrew wants to come with me.'_ She then faced her female friend. "I think I…"

"Hello there!" Someone called out. The girls turned to see Andrew standing right in front of them, and waved at them smiling.

"Oh, hey Andrew." Jenny greeted.

"Hey Andrew. What brings you here?" Alexis asked.

"What brings me here… or rather _who_ brings me here is Jenny."

The girl in question blinked. "Me? Why?"

"Because I want to ask you something. You see, I was wondering if you want to attend the Halloween festival with me. Shiori will join me too, but I thought it would be fun if you joined me as well."

Jenny stared at him with widened eyes. She was definitely not expecting him to ask her out about the festival. That saved her the trouble to ask him. She snapped out of her shock and smiled. "Yes, of course. I would love to." She said cheerfully.

"Great. Then I'll see you there." He replied as he left the two ladies alone.

"Yeah, see ya." She watched as he walked away.

"Well aren't you lucky." Alexis spoke up.

"What do you mean?" Jenny asked with a tiny blush on her face.

"What I mean is Andrew saved you the trouble to ask him."

Jenny widened her eyes as her blush darkened a little. "H-how did you know I was going to ask him?"

"Just an intuition."

Jenny turned away, feeling a bit embarrassed. Alexis couldn't help but feeling amused by her friend's reaction.

* * *

Later that night, most of the students have returned to their dorms. But there were a group of three Obelisk blue girls spending some time at the lake near the girls dorm, talking to each other. One girl had short black hair that reached her shoulders. Another one had light gray hair tied up in a pair of long pigtails. The third one had long dark pink hair, almost as long as Alexis' hair.

"Did you girls see that guy carving out the pumpkins? He's a total hottie." The girl with pigtails said dreamily.

"Yeah, no kidding." The black haired girl agreed. "And the guy hanging up those skulls and bats is cute."

"The one preparing the candy stand wasn't too bad either." The pink haired girl commented.

Before anyone could say something else, they heard the sound of rustling from the bushes nearby.

"Huh? What's that?" The black haired girl wondered.

"Maybe it's a boy sneaking around?" The girl with pigtails said.

The pink haired girl gave the bushes a hard glare. "If so, then he's in big trouble." The girls went to the bushes to confront whoever or whatever was hiding behind.

"Alright, whoever you are, come out now!" The black haired girl demanded.

The rustling continued for almost 15 seconds. And as soon as the invisible clock reached the fifteenth second, something crawled out from the bushes, something… furry and tiny?

"Huh?" The girls looked down to see a squirrel. It tilted its head as it stared at them curiously.

"Aww, it was just a little squirrel." The pink haired girl said.

"And its so cute~." The girl with pigtails added.

"Hey there little guy." The black haired girl said as she kneeled down. The squirrel looked like it was about approach them. But then, when it looked up, it jumped and ran away. "Huh? What happened?"

"Did we scare it somehow?" The pigtailed girl wondered.

"Maybe." The pink haired girl replied. She was about to turn around. "Let's head back to… huh?"

"Hm? What's wrong?" The other girls turned around, and saw someone standing right in front of their friend. The stranger was a tall, shadowy figure, staring down at them.

The girls were just standing there, sweating and couldn't help but tremble in fear.

The stranger gave them an evil grin and let out an equally evil chuckle.

...

...

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

* * *

The next day, many students in the classrooms and hallways were talking about a certain incident.

"Have you heard? Three girls have disappeared last night." A boy said.

"Yeah, someone must have kidnapped them." Another boy said.

"What do you think could have happened to them?" A girl asked.

"I don't know. I just hope they're okay." Another girl said.

Since it was so popular, Jaden and his roommates decided to ask Alexis and Jenny about it. They all met up at the docks. Along with Alexis and Jenny, Jasmine and Mindy were there as well. Even Andrew, Shiori, Bastion and Michael came to ask them.

"So, do you girls know anything about the disappearance?" Jaden asked.

Alexis shook her head. "No, we hardly know anything."

"We were just relaxing in our dorm, until we heard a scream." Jasmine said.

"So we ran out to find out what happened." Mindy added.

Jenny then pulled out a certain device. "And when we arrived, all we found was this PDA laying on the ground."

"This is so uncool." Michael replied. "What could have happened to them?"

"What indeed. This certainly is a mystery." Bastion added.

The group pondered deeply about this. And then, a thought crossed Jaden's mind.

"Hey, do you guys think this has something to do with that mysterious kidnapper?"

Everyone looked at him with quizzical looks on their faces.

"Mysterious kidnapper?" Shiori asked.

It was then Andrew realized what Jaden was talking about. "You mean the one who kidnapped people and scared them before disappearing?"

As soon as those words left his mouth, the rest of the group gasped.

Syrus and Chumley couldn't help but pale at that.

"C-come on Jaden. There's no way that scary kidnapper has something to do with this." The blue haired Slifer said.

"Y-yeah, totally." Chumley added.

"Well, what else could have happened to the girls?" Jaden asked.

"Wether that kidnapper is responsible or not, all we know is that there are students who have gone missing, and we need to find them." Michael pointed out.

The group nodded in approval.

"Alright then, let's go and find them!" Jaden declared.

"You guys can go and search for them. I'll try to gather more information about this." Bastion said.

"Good. Let us know if you find something new." Andrew said.

* * *

And so, the students went out to search in groups. Alexis was searching with Jenny, Jasmine and Mindy. Jaden was searching with Syrus and Chumley. And Andrew was searching with Shiori and Michael. They looked around on the beach, trying to find some clues.

"Did you guys find anything?" Andrew called out to the others.

"Nothing here." Michael replied searching through one place.

"Same here." Shiori added.

"Keep it up. I'm sure we'll find something."

And so, they continued with the task. The boys kept searching for another 10 minutes. And then...

"Man, there are no clues here." Michael said, being disappointed.

"Not even a single thing." Shiori added.

"Then let's go somewhere else." Andrew suggested.

The group were about to leave, until Michael noticed something. "Hm?"

"What is it, Michael?" Andrew asked.

"I think I just found something." He replied as he walked to whatever he found.

"Really?" Shiori asked.

The two Ra's followed the Obelisk as they walked towards whatever Michael. When they were close enough, the boys could see that it was...

"A bush?" Shiori asked.

Indeed it seemed to be a bush. and quite a big one for that matter.

"What's so special with that?" Andrew wondered.

As to answer his question, Michael walked up to the bush and placed a hand on it. And then...

"Yup, it's just as I thought."

"What do you mean?" Shiori asked.

"What I mean is… this isn't a bush. Just something covered in leaves."

The two Ra's widened their eyes upon heating this. They placed their hands on the bush and were surprised to feel something strange.

"Whoa, what do you know? It really is something covered in leaves." Shiori said.

"Then let's see what's hidden." Andrew declared.

The boys removed all leaves from the hidden object. And when they were done, they found something unexpected.

"Is that a rowboat?" Andrew asked.

What they found was indeed a rowboat, with the oars laying inside of it.

"Yeah, looks like it." Michael replied.

"But if a boat was covered in leaves like that, then that means…" Shiori said.

"Someone is trying to hide the fact they are intruding the island." Michael finished the sentence.

"We must tell the others about this." Andrew said.

The other two boys nodded in approval, before they left.

* * *

Meanwhile, Alexis, Jenny, Jasmine and Mindy were walking through the woods. The sun even began to set.

"I wonder where they are." Alexis said.

"I'm sure we'll find them." Jenny said.

Jasmine and Mindy had been surprisingly quiet so far. It took Alexis a while to realize that.

"Are two okay?"

The two girls shared a look, before they turned towards Alexis with worried looks on their faces.

"No, not really." Jasmine replied. "I mean, there is some freak who've been kidnapping people.

"And what if that kidnapper finds us?" Mindy asked.

Alexis and Jenny looked at each other, before they gave them a reassuring look.

"Don't worry. As long as we stick together, we'll be fine." Alexis said.

"Yeah, so let's keep searching for the others." Jenny added.

Jasmine and Mindy started to feel a little better and nodded. But before the girls had the chance to keep searching, they heard rustling sounds nearby.

"W-what was that?" Jasmine asked with a panicked tone.

The girls stood next to each other, trying to be prepared for whoever was about to come. The rustling sound continued and was heard from different places. They then noticed a rustling bush, just a couple of meters away from them. The watched as the rustling intensified. They waited for whoever was hiding to appear. The rustling kept on until… nothing. The rustling just stopped.

"Huh? What happened?" Mindy wondered.

"It just stopped." Jenny said.

"That's weird." Alexis added. "I wonder wha… huh?" She stopped at mid sentence when she suddenly felt something on her back.

"Hm? What's wrong, Alexis?" Jenny asked as she and the others turned to see Alexis, who have already turned around, staring at someone very tall staring down at them.

"Hehehehe."

* * *

 _2 minutes earlier_.

Andrew, Shiori and Michael met up with the others at the front of the academy building. Even Bastion arrived there.

"Hey guys. Did you find anything." Andrew asked.

"No, not a thing." Jaden replied as he and the other two Slifers shook their heads.

"What about you Bastion?" Shiori asked the intelligent Ra student. "Did you get some new info of the disappearance?"

"Well, I asked some other students about this, and it appears that the those three Obelisk Blue girls aren't the only one who are gone."

The rest of the group gasped.

"What? You mean other students have disappeared?" Syrus asked.

"Yes. According to those I asked, a couple of students from other dorms have recently gone missing. This is certainly a concerning situation."

"If you think that's concerning, wait until you guys hear what we found." Michael said.

"What did you found? Some clues of the missing students?" Jaden asked.

"We can't say for sure, but it was something strange. What we found was something covered in leaves. When we uncovered it, we found a rowboat."

The Slifers and Bastion widened their eyes. "A rowboat?" Chumley asked.

"Yeah, that's right." Andrew replied. "And the fact that it was covered in leaves can only mean that there's an intruder sneaking around on the island."

Syrus gulped. "Are you saying that this intruder could have something to do with the disappearances?"

"Like Michael said, we can't say for sure, but that might be possible." Shiori replied.

"Aw man."

Jaden punched his open palm. "Well, whatever the case, we can't stop now. Let's go and…"

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

The boys gasped upon hearing that scream.

"That sounded like Alexis and the others." Shiori said.

"Come on!" Jaden took the lead as the group ran in the direction the scream. They kept running until they came to a clearing. "What happened to them?"

"Hey, look over there." Syrus said. Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing at, and saw something on the ground… muddy footprints.

"Footprints." Michael said.

"There is certainly no doubt that our mysterious intruder left them." Bastion concluded.

"Then let's see where those footprints leads." Andrew said as he and the group followed the footprints.

* * *

As the time passed, it was nighttime. The group followed the footprints through the forest. And then, there were no more footprints to follow.

"The tracks stops here." Shiori pointed out.

"Yeah, but where did they go?" Michael wondered.

"Look guys." Everyone turned to Jaden and saw he was standing in front of what appeared to be the entrance of a cave.

"A cave?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah, and something tells me the girls are somewhere in there."

Syrus and Chumley didn't like the idea of entering a dark cave. Especially since there's a risk that they might be attacked by the intruder.

"Y-you guys aren't planning to go in there, are you?" The little bluehead asked nervously.

"Of course. We should at least see if the others are in there." Shiori replied.

"Hey, Bastion. Can you go and get Chancellor Sheppard? I think it would be good if he knew about what we found." Andrew suggested.

The Ra Yellow genius nodded. "Right. I'll be on my way." He then ran off.

"Uh, I think we should go too. Just to uh… make sure Bastion won't get in trouble." Chumley said nervously as he and Syrus tried to walk away.

"Yeah, better safe than… ah!" Syrus stopped at mid sentence as he and Chumley were pulled by their blazers and dragged by Michael and Shiori.

"Nope. Bastion should be fine. We're going in." The Obelisk boy declared.

"Yeah, so let's go." The ritual duelist said as they dragged the whining Slifers into the cave, followed by Andrew and Jaden.

* * *

The group was walking through a dark tunnel with a few puddles on the way.

"Aw man. It's so dark and creepy here." Syrus complained.

"Does anyone have a flashlight?" Chumley asked.

"No. But we can't stop here. We gotta find the other students." Jaden said.

They kept walking and… "AAAAAHHHH!"

The group heard a scream from a number of people. Syrus and Chumley jumped in fear by the sudden scream.

"It's the other students." Shiori said.

"Come on." Jaden ran in the scream came from, followed by the others.

"Ahh, why are we running." Chumley whined.

The group made it to the end of the tunnel and arrived in a big area. They looked around to find the others. It was then Syrus let out a terrified scream.

"What is it, Sy?" Jaden asked.

"Look over there!" The group looked in the direction he was pointing at and saw something shocking. A bunch of students, from all different dorms, sitting on the ground tied up and trembling in fear. They could see Alexis, Jenny, Jasmine and Mindy among those students. But what's got their attention was something standing right in front of them. It was a hideous looking monster made of skulls and other skeletal body parts.

"What is that?" Chumley asked frightened.

Michael seemed to recognize that creature. "I know that monster. It's Ryu Kokki."

The other boys looked at him.

"You mean it's a duel monster?" Jaden asked.

"Yeah. There's no doubt about it."

"But why is a duel monster doing here?" Shiori wondered.

"To help me spread fear around here!" A new voice echoed through the cave.

The boys looked around, wondering where the voice came from.

"Who's there? Show yourself." Andrew demanded.

"As you wish." The voice replied from the darkness and suddenly, three lights were turned on right above them. The group then noticed shining white eyes appear from the shadows. They braced themselves as the figure stepped out into the light to reveal themselves. The boys were intimidated by the appearance of the stranger. It was a man who was at least 7 feet tall. He was a Caucasian, dark-haired man wearing a dark hat and coat with the letters 'P' on the left side, and 'K' on the right side. He also wore a silver armor-like shirt with dark green pants and black boots. He also had the left half of his face covered in bandages, but they could clearly see the other half. The man had a scar over his right eye and a burn mark on his forehead. He also had a duel disk on his arm.

"W-w-who is that?" Syrus asked shaking.

"I don't know, but he sure looks creepy." Jaden commented.

"I assure you, I'm more than just creepy your little worms. I am… Panik the Player Killer!"

The boys gasped in astonishment.

"Panik the Player Killer? One of Pegasus's eliminators?" Shiori asked, hardly believing this.

"But from what I've heard, he died in towering inferno." Michael said, being as shocked as the others.

"Yeah that's right. You are supposed to be dead. How come you're still alive?" Andrew asked.

Panik gave them an intimidating grin. "How you ask? Well, I guess I could tell you. From starters, it's just like you said, I worked for Pegasus as one of his eliminators in the Duelist Kingdom Tournament years ago. Eliminating the competitors was nothing but thrilling for me. But then, as I finished off my latest victim, Mai Valentine…" He then grunted in anger. "That little upstart Yugi Moto came along and demanded a match to save that girl from being eliminated from the island!"

"Oh, that's right." Jaden said as he snapped his fingers. "Yugi dueled you to keep her in the tournament."

"But what does that have to do the fact you are still alive?" Michael asked.

"I used pyrotechnics to instill the fear in my opponents during the match…" The Player Killer explained. "Any opponent I faced begged for mercy, but Yugi wasn't just any opponent. He just kept dueling, humiliated me and defeated me. And in retaliation, I tried to burn him asunder!"

"What!?" Andrew could not believe that Panik actually tried to burn Yugi to death.

"But somehow, that pyramid he wore around his neck, protected him and tried to burn me alive!" Everyone was very shocked by this story, by all accounts Panik should have died back then. "In desperation, I removed my coat and used it as protection as I jumped out of the flames. And miraculously enough, I managed to survive, but even with the protection, I got burned." As he spoke, Panik removed the bandages from his face, revealing black burns on the left side of his face. Everyone gasped and was horrified.

"Oh, not lishus." Chumley said.

"Yikes! That's not cool." Jaden commented.

"Oh, for the love of Ra, that's awful." Andrew said, cringing at the sight of Panik's face.

"Ever since that fateful day, I've been honing my skills in underground duels, so I could inflict the same pain and fear I once dealt years ago. But merely making my opponents tremble fear in duels wasn't enough for me, so…" He then gave them a creepy grin. "I decided to hunt down victims and take them to some place where I can frighten them in peace."

"So then, the people tied up in abandoned places…" Andrew concluded and gave Panik a hard glare. "You are responsible for those incidents."

Panik's grin widened. "That's right. I know what you're thinking: 'That's terribly awful'. And you know what? That's what makes the whole thing fun." He then let out a laughter.

That was the last straw. The group couldn't help but glaring at the terrible player killer.

"You are one sick man!" Jaden snapped.

"You won't get away with this." Michael added.

"Let go of those people, right now!" Shiori demanded.

"And if I refuse?" Panik asked smugly.

It was then, when Andrew stepped forward. "If you don't release them that easily, then I'll force you. So let's duel."

Panik widened his eyes for a moment, before letting out another laugh. "So you think you can defeat me, eh? Alright then, let's see what you can do, little duelist."

"Good luck Andrew." Michael said.

"You got this." Jaden added.

The students who were captured were a little nervous about this. Even Jenny couldn't help but be worried. _'I hope you know what you're doing, Andrew.'_

As the duelists took their positions, Shiori discreetly took out his PDA and prepared to send a message.

* * *

Meanwhile, Bastion was talking to Chancellor Sheppard in his office. He told about the clues he and the others found. "…And right now, they are inside the cave to investigate."

The Chancellor nodded. "I see. Well I'm glad that you told me this. Let's hope they find anything."

As soon as those words left his mouth, Bastion's PDA started to beep. He took it up and saw that he got a typed message.

"What is it?" Sheppard asked.

"A message from Shiori." The Ra Yellow student replied as he read the message. And then… "Great Scott!"

"What's wrong?"

"Take a look." Bastion held up his PDA so the Chancellor could read the message. And then, he gasped at what he just read.

"Let's go." He said as he got up from his chair.

* * *

 _Back to the cave_

Panik and Andrew activated their duel disks and were about to start.

"Alright, time to take you down." Andrew declared.

"Not after I make you panic." The player killer replied.

"DUEL!"

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Panik: 4000**

"I hope you're ready, because once this duel is over, you will be nothing but a trembling wimp." Panik said as he drew his sixth card." I play a facedown monster in defense mode, then I'll place another card facedown and end my turn." One facedown card appeared in front of the next.

"Okay, my move." Andrew declared as he drew a card.

"Hold it right there! I activate my trap card A Feint Plan." Panic said and revealed his facedown card. "Thanks to this, you won't be able to attack any facedown monster on the field this turn."

"Aw man, that means Andrew can't attack at all." Syrus muttered.

"The duel has just started." Michael replied with a confident voice. "I'm sure Andrew can get around this."

Andrew looked at his hand, trying to come up with a strategy. _'Let's see. Because of the effect of Panik's trap card, his monster is safe.'_ He then looked at a certain card in his hand. _'But that doesn't_ _necessarily mean his life points are safe.'_ He smirked as he took the card from his hand. "I summon Elemental HERO Knospe in attack mode." As soon as Andrew placed the card on his duel disk, a new hero monster appeared on the field. It was like a humanoid flower bud wearing a little necklace. ( **ATK: 600** DEF: 1000 LV: 3)

"Hey, a new hero!" Jaden said excited.

"But it is kinda weak." Syrus commented while raising one of is eyebrows.

"I think Andrew has a good reason to summon that monster." Shiori replied calmly.

"Next I activate the spell card HERO's Bond. With a HERO monster on my field, I'm allowed to summon two level four or lower Elemental Heroes from my hand. And I choose Avian and Lady Heat, both of them in defense mode." The winged green hero, along with the white and orange clad fire heroine joined the little plant. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1000** LV: 3) (ATK: 1300 **DEF: 1000** LV: 4)

"Hahahaha! Is that the best you can come up with? A bunch of weaklings?" Panik mocked. "That's just pathetic. And even if any of those monsters would have enough attack points to take down my facedown monster, they can't attack it, all thanks to my A Feint Plan card."

"Who said I was after your monster?" Andrew asked.

"Huh?" The Player Killer raised an eyebrow.

"You're obviously unaware about my Knospe's special ability. If I control another Elemental HERO, she's safe from your attacks, and she can also bypass your monster and attack you directly."

"What!?"

"Now Knospe, attack with Seed Blast!" The plant-like hero fired seeds from its open buds. Panik used his arms to shield himself from the attack.

 **Panik: 4000-3400**

"Yeah! That's it!" Jaden cheered.

"Lishus!" Chumley said.

"And thanks to that direct attack, another one of Knospe's abilities activates. Since she successfully caused some battle damage, her attack points are increased by 100, while her defense points are decreased by the same amount. ( **ATK: 600-700** DEF: 1000-900) "And next I activate the spell card Supply Squad." The continuous spell appeared behind the plant-like hero. "And next my Lady Heat's special ability kicks in. During my end phase, you take 200 points of damage for every Elemental HERO I have on the field." The fire heroine conjured a fireball in her right hand and threw it at Panik. He also seemed to be frightened by the flames.

 **Panik: 3400-2800**

The kidnapped students cheered for this.

"Way to go, Andrew!" Jenny cheered.

"Nice move." Alexis added.

Panik started to growl. "You'll pay for that." He drew his next card. "I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards." When he looked at the two cards he drew, he smirked. "And it looks like I got something very good… and very nasty. I activate the spell card Cost Down." He inserted the spell card into his duel disk.

"By discarding one card from my hand, I can reduce the level of all monsters in my hand by two stars. Which means I don't need a sacrifice to summon Pumpking the King of Ghosts." The monster rose up from the ground. It was a giant pumpkin with one big eye and a creepy mouth. It also had some vine-like tentacles and a crown on its head. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 2000 LV: 6-4) "And now I activate the spell card Monster Reborn, and I'll use it to resurrect the monster discarded for a moment ago. Rise up, Despair from the Dark!" A dozen of tombstones rose up from the ground. along with a large wicked looking black, red and purple shadow-like creature that leered down at Andrew. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 3000 LV: 8)

"What is that!?" Syrus and Chumley exclaimed as they hugged each other, completely terrified by the monster.

"Two words: Not friendly." Shiori replied.

"And now it's time to reveal my facedown monster." With that said, Panik's facedown card flipped up, and out of it came something that looked like a little castle floating in the air. It was surrounded by a ring with a symbol on it. ( **ATK: 920** DEF: 1930 LV: 4)

"Is that… a castle?" Jaden wondered.

"Not just any castle." Michael grunted.

"That's right. This is the Castle of Dark Illusions, and this magnificent building has a flip effect: The attack and defense points of all zombie type monsters on the field are increased by 200." The unleashed a purple mist, causing the eyes of Panik's other monsters to glow red. ( **ATK: 1800-2000** DEF: 2000-2200) ( **ATK: 2800-3000** DEF: 3000-3200) "And as long as it remains on the field, their strength will increase by another 200 points during my standby phases, and this effect continues until my fourth turn after my castle revealed itself."

"So for every turn, they'll grow stronger." Jaden concluded.

"Aw man. That means Panik will have two powerful monsters on his field." Syrus added.

"Yes, but that's not all. My Pumpking has a special ability as well. If Castle of Dark Illusions is on the field, his attack and defense points are increased by 100." One the pumpkins tentacles wrapped around the lower part of the castle. ( **ATK: 2000-2100** DEF: 2200-2300) "And during my standby phases, Pumpking gets 100 more points, and that will continue until the fourth turn after this effect is activated. And to add some more darkness on the field, I equip my Castle of Dark Illusions with the spell card Shield Attack, which lets me switch its original attack and defense points." The spell card appeared behind the floating building and then, the mist it unleashed was darker than before. ( **ATK: 920-1930** DEF: 1930-920)

"What? Now its attack points are higher than its defense points." Chumley stated.

"Which means Andrew is in trouble now." Jaden added.

"Time for you to suffer the horror of my creatures." Panik announced." Now my Castle, eliminate his Avian!" The mist the castle unleashed was spreading over the field. And then, a mass of the mist was forming into the shape of a giant skull with red glowing eyes and devoured Avian within 2 seconds.

"That castle is scarier than I thought." Syrus paled.

"Well, any card can be terrifying if you play it right." Michael replied.

"The effect of my Supply Squad is activated." Andrew announced. "Once per turn, I get to draw a card when one of my monsters are destroyed." He explained as he drew a card.

"You're going to need it, because I'm not done yet. Now Pumpking, crush his Lady Heat." Two of the named monster's tentacles around the female hero and crushed her. "And now it's time so say goodbye to your little veggie. Despair from the Dark, Attack!" The shadow-like creature melted into the ground and disappeared. Everyone were waiting for the monster to strike, but were confused after waiting for 10 seconds.

"Huh? Why hasn't it attacked yet?" Shiori wondered.

"Did it just return to the dead or something?" Jaden asked jokingly.

Andrew then looked at the Player Killer. "Hey, Panik. What are you trying to pu…"

RAAGH!

"Ah!" He gasped as the face of Panik's monster suddenly appeared from the ground and tackled Knospe, causing her to shatter into pixels. Andrew was so focused by this, that he didn't notice the shadow creature's right fist appear behind him.

"Look out! Behind you!" One of the captured students called out.

But before Andrew could react, the fist gave him a punch that passed through him.

 **Andrew: 4000-1700**

"Andrew!" Jenny called out.

Andrew fell to one knee, and shuddered due to the feeling of something ghostly pass through his body. Panik noticed this.

"Hahahaha! What's wrong? Are you scared already? Well that's just the beginning."

"That man is so creepy." Mindy commented.

"He's more than creepy. He's a psycho." Jasmine added.

"Come on." Alexis said.

As soon as Despair from the Dark returned to his field, Panik inserted a card into his duel disk. "You have suffered enough for now, so I'll end my turn with a facedown."

The boys looked at their friend worriedly.

"Are you okay, Andrew?" Michael asked.

The Masked hero duelist took a deep breath before he stood. "Yeah, I think so." He then drew a card. "I activate the spell card Polymerization. And I'll use it to fuse Elemental HERO Burstinatrix and Shadow Mist to form Elemental HERO Nova Master." The two named monsters were sucked into a fusion vortex and merged to form the red and orange armored fire hero. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2100 LV: 8) "And since Shadow Mist was sent to the graveyard, I can use her special ability, allowing me to take a hero monster from my deck and add it to my hand. I choose my Elemental HERO Flash. And now I'll attack your castle with Nova Master. Go, Burning Sphere Bomb!" The fire hero created a sphere of fire and threw it at the floating castle.

"Not a very pretty idea." Panik stated with a grin on his face.

"What?"

"I activate the trap card Half Counter." The facedown card revealed itself. "When my monster is attacked, I can increase its attack points equal to half of your attacking monster's original attack points."

The group gasped.

"Not lishus." Chumley said. "That means Andrew's monster will be destroyed."

"This isn't good." Syrus added.

The trap card unleashed a dark aura that surrounded the floating castle. ( **ATK: 1930-3230** ) The fire sphere was then reflected by the castle's ring and sent back to Nova Master who was instantly destroyed by it.

 **Andrew: 1700-1070**

"Looks like your attack _backfired._ " Panik stated mockingly.

Andrew grunted before replying. "Maybe, but thanks to the effect of my Supply Squad, I draw a card." He looked at the card he drew and inserted it into his duel disk. "I activate the spell card Legacy of a Hero. With at least two level four or higher Elemental heroes in my graveyard, I can use this to draw three cards from my deck." He explained as he drew three cards. He saw that one of the cards he drew was his duel spirit. _'Phantom Magician.'_

The skeletal creature appeared beside him. _"Do you need a hand?"_ He offered.

 _'As a matter of fact, I do.'_ Andrew then placed the card on his duel disk. "I summon Phantom Magician in defense mode." The red cloaked duel spirit kneeled down in front of him. (ATK: 600 **DEF: 700** LV: 3) "Then I'll end my turn with two cards facedown." He concluded.

"Running scared are we?" Panik taunted. "Well you should be. My move." He drew a card. "First the effect of my Castle of Dark Illusions is activated, giving my other monsters 200 extra points." ( **ATK: 2100-2300** DEF: 2300-2500) ( **ATK: 3000-3200** DEF: 3200-3400) "And then my Pumpking gets 100 more points, thanks to _his_ special ability." ( **ATK: 2300-2400** DEF: 2500-2600) "And now I'll have my castle attack your magician." A mass of the mist was once formed into a skull and swallowed Phantom Magician.

"I activate my trap, Hero Signal. With this I can summon a level four or lower Elemental HERO from my hand or deck. And I choose Elemental HERO Ocean." The blue skinned, aquatic hero rose on Andrew's field, holding up his trident defensively. (ATK: 1500 **DEF: 1200** LV: 4) "And there's more. Since my Phantom Magician was destroyed in battle, his special ability activates. I'm allowed to summon a HERO monster from my deck in defense mode, as long as it has 1000 attack points or less. Like Elemental HERO Woodsman." The wooden hero appeared beside the water hero. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4) "And finally, I draw a card, thanks to Supply Squad."

"So you managed to summon two monsters on the field. But that's not enough to stop me. Pumpking and Despair, attack!" The giant pumpkin used one of its vines to slam the wooden hero, while the shadow creature raised its right hand and clawed the water hero. "And now I activate the spell card Nightmare's Steelcage." Andrew's field was suddenly covered in a big dome shaped cage. "During you next two turns, this spell card prevents all monsters from attacking. That includes my monsters but it's not like you can take them down anyway. I'll end my turn…"

"Before I'll take my turn, I activate my other trap, Call of the Haunted. Now I can summon a monster from my graveyard in attack mode. So welcome back, Shadow Mist." The black armored woman rose on Andrew's field. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "And since she was special summoned, I'm allowed to take a quick play spell card with the word 'Change' in its name and add it to my hand."

"Alright! That means he can summon a Masked hero." Syrus cheered.

"Well he's going to need it when that steel cage is gone." Jaden added.

"My turn." Andrew drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Flash in defense mode." The blue and silver clad, electric hero appeared beside Shadow Mist. (ATK: 1100 **DEF: 1600** LV: 4) "And with that, I'll end my turn."

"My move." Panik said. "And once again, my monsters gets stronger." ( **ATK: 2400-2700** DEF: 2600-2900) ( **ATK: 3200-3400** DEF: 3400-3600) "Then I'll place a card facedown and end my turn."

"Back to me." Andrew announced. "I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman." The flame headed hero appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "And thanks to his special ability, I can take a polymerization from my deck and add it to my hand. And I'll use it right away to combine my Blazeman and Shadow Mist." The monsters were sucked into another fusion vortex. "I summon Elemental HERO Escuridao." The dark armored Elemental hero came out of the vortex. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 2000 LV: 8) "Since Shadow Mist was sent back to the graveyard, I can take another Hero from my deck. I choose Elemental HERO Ice Edge. And then there's Escuridao's special ability. She gains 100 attack points for every Elemental HERO in my graveyard. And so far I have 8 Elemental heroes, giving her 800 attack points." The transparent forms of the fallen heroes faded into Escuridao, giving her a power boost. ( **ATK: 2500-3300** )

"Wow! 3300 attack points. That's pretty much." Jaden said, being impressed.

"True, but that won't help so much." Michael replied.

"What do you mean?" Syurs asked.

Hearing this, Panik decided to answer the question. "I'll tell you why. Because my Nightmare's Steelcage is still in play. Therefore he can't attack. The spell card will be gone as soon as his turn comes to an end and then my creatures are free to take him down and make him suffer a terrifying defeat. Hahaha..."

"Now you're just annoying." Andrew spoke up.

"Huh?" Now Panik was confused.

"All you care about is scaring people and making them suffer. You don't respect your opponents by any account. No wonder Yugi defeated you."

"Watch your mouth you little twerp!" Panik snapped. "No one talks to Panik the Player Killer like that and gets away with it!"

"I gotta admit, you got me shaken a bit. But not anymore. I think it's time for the final act. I end my turn with a facedown card." As soon as Andrew's facedown card appeared, the giant cage disappeared. "Now give me your best shot, if you can that is." He challenged him with a smirk on his face.

"Why you…" Panik started to growl angrily.

"Oh boy. looks like Panik is starting to lose his cool." Shiori pointed out.

"And that might be just what Andrew needed." Michael replied.

"Really?" Syrus wondered.

"How come?" Chumley asked.

"I think we're about to find out." Jaden said.

"My turn. First my monsters gets stronger thanks to Castle of Dark Illusions." ( **ATK: 2700-3000** DEF: 2900-3200) ( **ATK: 3400-3600** DEF: 3600-3800) "And then I activate the spell card Graceful Charity. It allows me to draw 3 cards from my deck. But after that I have to discard two cards from my hand."

"But that means he will only get one card in the end." Chumley pointed out.

Panik on the other hand grinned. "Not necessarily. At least no after I use this card." It was then his facedown card revealed itself. "It's a trap card known as Disgraceful Charity. This allows me to bring back any card I discard this turn."

The group gasped.

"That means he will get all three cards he draw." Jaden said.

"And those could be something dangerous too." Syrus said disbelieved.

Panik drew his three cards and let two of them slide into the graveyard, only to let those cards eject from it instantly and place them back into his hand. He looked at them and grinned evilly. "Hehehehe. Well, it looks like you're about to suffer the consequences for mocking me."

"How come?" Andrew asked, being wary of this.

"Because I just got a card that will give my creatures enough power to annihilate you." Panik inserted one card into his duel disk, causing the image of a spell card appear in front of his monsters. "I activate United We Stand!"

Everyone were shocked by this.

"Oh no! That's one of the strongest equip spells in the game." Jenny said.

"It can't be." Alexis said.

"I'm afraid it's true." Panik said triumphantly. "This spell card gives the equipped monster 800 attack and defense points for every monster I control. So by adding it to my Despair from the Dark, he will become your doom!" The spell card was absorbed into the shadow creature's body, and as a result, it became bigger and more viscous. ( **ATK: 3600-6000** DEF: 3800-6200)

"6000 attack points!?" Shiori exclaimed.

"If that attack hits, Andrew will lose the duel." Michael cringed.

"Hahahaha! It appears you dug your own grave. Any last words?"

"Only two… Mask Change."

"What?"

Andrew's facedown card flipped up. "With this, I can send a HERO monster from my field to the graveyard and summon a Masked HERO with the same attribute that the sent monster had. And I think I'll use it on my Flash." The body of the blue and silver armored hero started to glow brightly.

"AAAAHH!" Panik screamed, covering his eyes. "Stop! Not the light!"

The glowing continued until it died down. And then, everyone could see a new hero on the field. It was a warrior clad in a golden armor with blades attached to his arms. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 1800 LV: 8)

"Panik, may I introduce you Masked HERO Koga."

"Wow! That monster is so sweet!" Jaden commented.

"But can Andrew win with that card in play." Syrus asked worriedly.

"Don't worry. I will." Andrew assured his friends. "Let me tell you about about Koga's special ability. For every monster you have on the field, he gains 500 attack points."

"What? For every monster on my field?" Panik asked with a surprised tone in his voice.

"That's right, so with 3 monsters on your field, it gives Koga 1500 extra points." The golden hero was surrounded by a white aura. ( **ATK: 2500-4000** ) "And since Flash joined the other Elemental heroes in my graveyard, Escuridao gets stronger as well." The dark armored hero was surrounded by a purple aura. ( **ATK: 3300-3400** )

Panik blinked twice before he laughed again. "Hahaha! I admit, I was a little surprised by that little stunt you just pulled. But there's one little problem with your strategy. Both of your monsters are still weaker than my Despair from the Dark. And no matter which one of them I attack, you will lose the duel. Now my Despair, destroy his Escuridao!" The shadow creature flew towards dark armored hero.

"Andrew!" Everyone watching cried the monster almost reached its target.

"I activate Koga's special ability." Andrew announced.

Panik widened his eyes. "What did you say!? That hero has another ability?"

"That's right, and it works like this; during either player's turn, I can take a HERO monster from my graveyard and remove it from play. And then, until the end of the turn, a monster monster loses attack points equal the attack strength of the monster I removed."

"That's not possible!" Panik protested.

"It is possible and I prove it by removing my Nova Master from the game." The spirit of the fire hero appeared and punched the Despair in the face, making it recoil. ( **ATK: 6000-3400** )

"Whoa. That monster's attack points went down to 3400." Chumley pointed out.

"That's the same as Escuridao's attack points." Syrus added.

"Um, not really." Jaden replied.

"Huh?"

"He's right. Since one of my Elemental heroes has been removed from the graveyard, Escuridao loses 100 points." ( **ATK: 3400-3300** )

The shadow creature grabbed the dark armored hero and crushed her with ease.

"Ooh, that wasn't good." Shiori said.

"Maybe so," Michael replied. "but at least Andrew managed to reduce the difference of the monsters' strength to survive the attack.

 **Andrew: 1070-0970**

"Phew, that was close." Jasmine sighed.

"I don't know if I can handle it anymore." Mindy added.

 _'Be careful, Andrew.'_ Jenny thought worriedly.

Panik was growling in frustration. "I can't believe you survived my attack. You were supposed to fear me. Can't you just stand down so I can defeat you!?"

Andrew smirked. "Sorry Panik, but I will not fear you. And I won't stand down until the last life points expires."

This earned another growl from the Player Killer.

"Now due to the effect of Supply Squad, I draw another card."

"Hmph, fine. But if you think you'll be able to damage me during your next turn, think again. First I'll switch my Castle and Pumpking to defense mode." The castle came down to the ground, while the giant pumpkin lowered itself. "And now to make sure you won't get through my defense." Panik said as he inserted two cards into his duel disk. "I equip the Castle of Dark Illusions with the two spell cards Ring of Magnetism and Mist Body."

"What's with those cards?"

"From starters, my Ring of Magnetism takes away 500 attack and defense points from my castle." The giant ring surrounding the castle was glowing purple. (ATK: 1930-1430 **DEF: 920-420** ) "But in return, it will be able to protect my other monsters from your attacks. And then, thanks to my Mist Body, my castle can't be destroyed in battle." The purple mist the castle unleashed was suddenly so thick, that no one could see his other monsters anymore. Only their glowing eyes were visible.

"Aw man. If Andrew can't get through the castle, then he can't attack the other monsters." Syrus moaned.

"Don't worry Sy. Andrew just need the right card, and it will be alright." Jaden said confidently.

"Make your move, little brat." ( **ATK: 3400-6000** )

"My pleasure." Andrew prepared to draw his next card. _'Okay, with the castle being_ _invincible in battle and can protect the other monsters from my attacks, I need a way to get rid of either the castle or the spell cards. Here goes something.'_ He drew and paused for a few seconds before looking at the card he drew. He then smirked. "I'm afraid it's game over Panik."

"What?"

"First I summon Elemental HERO Ice Edge." The icy hero kid appeared beside Koga. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 900 LV: 3) "And then I activate the spell card Mask Change II. By discarding one card from my hand, I can send a monster I control to the graveyard and replace it with a Masked HERO with the same attribute but higher level than that monster had." Andrew explained while discarding one of his cards.

"Sounds like Andrew got a plan." Michael said while smirking.

"And I bet it's a sweet one." Jaden added.

"Now Ice Edge, transform." The kid was surrounded by a pillar of light. "Now come forth, Masked HERO Acid!" The dark blue armored hero with his gun stepped out from the pillar of light. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2100 LV: 8) "And now his special ability activates…" The masked hero fired a stream of acid that rained down over Panik's field. The Player Killer was confused at first, but then he noticed something surprising. The face up spell cards he had had on the field were melting until they shattered into pixels. As a result, the mist was completely gone and the shadow creature returned to its original size. ( **ATK: 6000-3600** DEF: 6200-3800) (1430-920 **DEF: 420-1930** )

"What did you do!?" Panik screamed.

"It was my Acid's ability. As soon as he's summoned to the field, he destroys all your spells and traps."

"B-but then…"

"That means your monsters aren't safe anymore. Oh, and one more thing; Since my Acid successfully destroyed your spell cards, all monsters on your field loses 300 attack points." The shadow creature, along with the giant pumpkin groaned, while some cracks appeared on the castle. (ATK: 3000-2700) ( **ATK: 3600-3300** ) (ATK: 920-620) "And now I activate Koga's ability. I remove one of my heroes from my graveyard so I can weaken your Despair from the Dark. And the one I remove is Escuridao." The spirit of the dark armored hero appeared and absorbed the energy from the shadow creature, making it lose most of its height. ( **ATK: 3300-800** )

"NO! HOW COULD I LOSE!?" Panik screamed.

"Maksed HERO Koga, attack his Despair with Twin Light Slash." The blades on the golden hero's arms glowed brightly as he slashed on the shadow creature, leaving an X-formed mark. The monster groaned until it shattered into pixels. But that was just the beginning. After the monster was destroyed, the golden hero landed right in front of Panik and unleashed a blinding light.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

 **Panik: 2800-0000**

As the holograms disappeared, Panik fell to his knees while covering his eyes, feeling blinded by the light.

Everyone cheered at the outcome.

"Andrew you did it." Jaden said as he and the others ran up him.

"You actually defeated Panik the Player Killer." Shiori added.

"You really did good." Michael gave him a thumb up.

"Thanks guys." Andrew smiled, and then turned towards the others the captives. "Now let's help the others." The boys walked up to them and the ropes.

After a couple of minutes, everyone were free.

"Thanks guys." Alexis said.

"You really saved us all." Jasmine added.

"Yeah, it was like really scary." Mindy said.

"Well, good thing we were able to take down that clown." Jaden replied while smiling sheepishly.

"What do you men 'we'?" Syrus asked. "You know as well as the rest of us that Andrew did most of the job."

"That's true." Jenny said, before turning towards him. "So are you okay.?"

"I'm fine. What matters is that you and the others are safe."

Jenny smiled softly. "Thanks Andrew."

"So what do we do now?" Chumley asked.

"Well, what we should do first would…" Before Andrew could finish his sentence, someone tackled him and held him down on the ground. It was none other than Panik who looked down at him with a hateful glare.

"You won't do anything you little bastard! No one humiliates me and gets away with it."

"Nngh!" Andrew grunted as he tried to get free.

"Andrew!" Jenny called out as she was about to approach them...

"Don't get any closer! Or he will suffer severely!" The Player Killer warned them.

"Aw man." Syrus moaned.

"Dammit." Shiori cursed."

Everyone could just stand there as Panik was holding Andrew hostage. Everything seemed to be hopeless...

"Now!" As soon as everyone heard that, a bunch of soldiers jumped out from nowhere and tackled Panik, before pinning him down.

"Augh! Let go of me!" He demanded.

Andrew stood up and brushed off some dust.

"Hey Andrew, are you okay?" Michael asked as he and the others ran up him.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"But where did those soldiers come from?" Syrus wondered, staring at the men who kept the Player Killer down on the ground.

"The same way we came here." Said a voice of an older man.

The group turned around and saw Three people approaching them. One of them was a certain woman dressed in a green uniform. It was the leader of the Disciplinary Action Squad. The other two were Bastion and Chancellor Sheppard.

"Hey it's Bastion." Jaden pointed out.

"And Chancellor Sheppard." Alexis added.

"What are you doing here?" Syrus asked.

"Well children, Bastion informed me about your investigation and got a message from Shiori, telling us what you found."

Everyone then turned to the ritual duelist.

"Is that true Shiori?" Jaden asked.

"Yup, that's right." Shiori replied. "While everyone was focusing on the duel, I used my PDA to send a message."

"Good thing that you did." Andre said, feeling relieved at being saved from being threatened by Panik.

"So now what?" Michael asked.

"Well, you did a splendidly job by dealing with this man. But now, you can let us take care of the rest. We'll make sure that Panik is handed over to the police." Sheppard said.

"So all of you should return to your dorms." The woman added.

With that said, the students walked out of the cave.

* * *

The next day, around 06:00 p.m, the inside of the gymnasium crowded by students from all three dorms. Why? Because the Halloween festival had begun. Paper figures in the forms of bats, skulls and ghosts dangled from the ceiling. Pumpkin lanterns stood against the walls. There also some carnival games based of duel monster cards. There were also some stands were anyone could get some drinks or snacks.

"Man I just love Halloween." Jaden said as he, Syrus and Chumley were eating some Dark Magic Choco bars.

"Yeah, it's totally lishus." Chumley agreed.

"I wonder what we should do next." Syrus wondered.

"I would recommend the Fairy Box game." Someone spoke up.

The Slifer trio turned around to see Andrew, along with Jenny and Shiori.

"Hey guys." Jaden greeted. "How's it going?"

"Just fine." Andrew replied. "Anyway, you guys should try the Fairy Box game. It's really fun."

"Sounds good to me."

Andrew then felt someone tap on his shoulder. He turned to see three of the students who were kidnapped by Panik; the girls who were at the lake near the girls dorm.

"Can I help you girls with something?" He asked politely.

"Well, we wanted to say thank you for saving us earlier." The girl with black hair said.

"Yeah, what that man did to us was pretty scary." The girl with pigtails said.

"And also," The dark pink haired spoke up while blushing. "We were wondering if you wanted to have fun with us."

Andrew blinked by the proposal, before he gave them his answer. "Thanks for the offer, but I promised to spend time with my friends. Sorry." He said, trying to be as polite with as possible.

The girls let out a disappointed 'aw' before they gave him an understanding look.

"That's okay." The girl with black hair.

"We understand. But thanks again for saving us." The girl with pink hair said.

The girls walked away, but while two of them went ahead, the girl with pigtails quickly went up to Andrew and gave him a peck on his left cheek, making him blush a little. And then she ran up to the others. He failed to notice Jenny who watched this with an annoyed look on her face and a tick mark at her head.

"Well, aren't you popular." Jaden said teasingly.

"What do mean?" Andrew asked.

"Well obviously, you seem to get some attention from the ladies." He continued in a teasing voice.

"K-knock it off." Andrew said, while blushing even more.

"Now now, how about we try some of the games instead." Shiori suggested.

"Yeah, good idea." Andrew agreed, shaking off the blush. He then turned to Jenny. "Right, Jenny?"

Snapping out of her jealousy, she nodded to him. "Yeah."

"Then Let's go!" Jaden declared as he took the lead.

At that, they rejoined the festivities. They played some games, ate some snacks and then, after some time has passed, it was time for movie. The movie they were showing was 'Van Helsing'. There were some appearances in the movie that caused a handful of students, including Jenny, getting scared. Andrew noticed it and placed a hand on her shoulder, to make her feel safe.

 _'Thank you.'_ She thought gratefully.

* * *

 **Here you go, my Halloween themed chapter. Although, it seems I finished this chapter a little later than expected. Oh well, can't be helped. Until next time.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Draining** **winterbreak in Domino City**

Snow was falling down over the famous place known as Domino City. Many areas were decorated with reeves, lights and a few Christmas trees. And speaking of Christmas, most of the students left the Duel Academy to spend the winter break with their families. Andrew was one of those students. For the moment, he was in the house where his family lives. It was a two-story building with white walls and a black roof. It also had a stone walkway leading through the yard up to the porch. (Even though it was hardly visible because of the snow.)

Andrew's mother was in the kitchen, preparing for dinner. She was wearing a light-blue dress split at her legs and an apron over it. She glanced at the turkey inside the oven. "It won't be long now." She said delighted. After that, she went inside the living room. "How is it going with the decorations boys?" The mother asked as she saw her husband and son decorating the living room.

The father was wearing a green sweater and a pair of red pants, and for the moment, he was hanging up stars at the windows. Andrew was wearing a dark-blue shirt and a pair of jeans. What he was doing, was decorating the christmas tree at the corner of the room. The living room had a big couch, a small table with santa claus figures on it, a broad TV and a bookshelf.

"Everything's fine over here, Marie." The father replied.

"All that's left for me, is the star." Andrew said, as he was about to place a nice-looking star on the top of tree. It was a silver star with some red gem-like decorations on it.

"Splendid~!" The mother now named Marie said.

Andrew delicately placed the star on the tree. "There. Now to light it up." He connected the cord to the outlet and the tree lit up brilliantly.

"Oh, it's beautiful, isn't it George?"

"Yeah, it is." The father now named George agreed.

"So, what now?" Andrew asked his parents.

"Well, the turkey should be ready about 2 hours or so, but there are still some other dishes that I need to prepare." Marie answered.

"May I help you with that?" Andrew offered.

"That would be sweet of you. Come on." Andrew followed his mom to the kitchen and started to make the other dishes. For example, cranberry sauce. While they were cooking, Marie asked him, "So Andrew, how was your time at the academy? Did you make some friends?"

"Yeah, a bunch of them." He replied.

"Then would you like to tell me about them?"

Andrew nodded and began telling her about the different things that happened so far. From when he met his friends and dueled a few of them, to when Jaden and Syrus had their elimination match and when the Halloween Festival occurred. He never gave her some stories about the more dangerous events, like when he faced Kang in a shadow duel in the abandoned dorm or saved the students who were kidnapped by Panik the Player Killer. He knew that something like that would make his parents worried. His father was able to listen the whole thing, even though he was relaxing in the living room.

"Sounds like your time at the academy had been exciting so far." Marie commented.

"It sure was."

"So, can you tell me more about this Jenny you mentioned earlier?"

Andrew blinked, but decided to tell her. "Well, like I said, she's a very strong duelist. And she's also cheerful, athletic, sweet and um…" While Andrew was wondering what to say, he couldn't help but blush a little.

"Oh. Is it possible that you two are a couple?" George commented as he entered the kitchen, having a grin on his face.

"W-what!? What makes you say that?" He stuttered as his blush darkened a little. "We're just friends."

"Is that really true?" Marie asked teasingly. "Because your blush is saying otherwise."

Andrew's face was now red as a tomato. "Knock it off!"

The parents chuckled at his embarrassment.

"Sorry dear. Anyway, we should continue with the dishes, even some frui…" Marie stopped at mid sentence as she formed an expression of realization on her face.

"Hm? What's wrong?" George asked.

The mother placed a hand on her mouth and gasped. "My goodness! I forgot to buy some fruit."

"What? Really?" Andrew asked.

"And I was planning to make a fruit salad." She sighed disappointed.

Andrew thought for a moment before giving her a suggestion. "Then how about I head out and buy some fruit?"

The parents were a little surprised at that.

"Would you really do that?"

"Yes, of course. Because what's a dinner without dessert? And no one makes a fruit salad as tasty as yours." Andrew said smiling.

Marie couldn't help but smile back at her son's compliment. "Thanks Andrew. Okay, I'll let you go. Let me write down the fruits you need to buy." She took a piece of paper and wrote down what was needed and gave it to Andrew.

"Alright. I'm heading out then." He said as he left.

* * *

Andrew was walking around the neighborhood. He was wearing a dark-blue winter jacket, gray hat, black gloves and boots.

"It's really snowy today." He said to himself. "Even more than on Academy Island."

 _"Indeed."_ Phantom Magician replied, as the duel spirt appeared beside him. _"Even though it gets colder there, it's hardly any snow there."_

"And to think that Jaden, Syrus and Chumley decided to stay there during the holiday. Not many students would do that. I hope they don't get too bored.

* * *

"ACHOO!"

Jaden sneezed hard as he was hanging out with his roommates in the Slifer red dorm's cafeteria, back at the academy.

"You alright, Jaden?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah, I think so." He replied as he sniffed a bit, scratching his nose.

"Well anyone would sneeze because of winter." Chumley said.

"Yes, but it might be another reason." Someone spoke up. The trio turned to see professor Banner who just entered the cafeteria. "It is said that if you talk about someone, then that person will sneeze."

Jaden laughed at this. "Yeah right. That's just a myth."

If only he knew how wrong he was.

* * *

 _Back to Andrew_

"Oh well, I'm sure it's not too bad."

Phantom Magician suddenly halted. _"Partner, something's going on."_

Andrew turned to him. "What? What do you mean?"

As if to answer his question...

"Stop that! Give it back!"

"Those are our cards!"

Andrew looked forward and saw three people in front of him. One of them was a boy with shoulder length dark-brown hair and eyes, wearing a black winter jacket and gloves and appears to be around the same age as Andrew. He seemed to be holding up two cards in his right hand. The other two were two younger boys, probably 7-8 years old. One of them was wearing a green jacket, hat and gloves. He had black hair and gray eyes. The other one had light-brown hair and light-blue eyes. He was wearing a purple jacket, hat and gray gloves. The two younger boys jumped up in attempt to get the cards the older guy was holding. But he just kept those cards away from them.

"What's the matter? Can't you boys reach them?" The bully asked mockingly.

"Come on, give them back!" The boy wearing the green jacket said.

"Give our cards back!" The boy wearing the purple jacket added.

Andrew gave the bully an angry look and walked over to the group. "Hey!"

The boys stopped what they were doing and turned to him. The bully scoffed. "What do you want?"

"From starters, I want you to give those cards back to those kids. Second, stop bullying them."

The bully sneered. "No way, loser. These cards are mine."

"As if. Those cards belongs to them. Cards are a duelist's soul, a part of themselves. You have no right to take the cards away from them!"

"Heh. Spare me your philosophical crap. For me, cards are just meant to be used by worthy duelists. And those brats doesn't deserve these cards." The bully rambled arrogantly.

"If you are as worthy as you think you are, then how about you prove it and duel me?" Andrew challenged.

The bully raised an eyebrow. "Are you challenging me? Who do you think you are?"

"My name is Andrew Wilson. Ra Yellow student from Duel Academy."

The two small boys gasped at the words 'Duel Academy'. The bully widened his eyes for a moment before smirking.

"Duel Academy, eh? And you're one of it's students you say. I always wondered if those students from the academy are really skilled. Very well. I accept your challenge. Although, I would like to make our duel more challenging."

Now it was Andrew's turn to raise one of his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"You'll see. Just follow me." The bully gestured as he started to walk away.

Andrew hesitated at first, but decided to follow him. And so did the kids.

* * *

Andrew and the two small boys followed the bully through the city until they reached the destination. They were standing right in front of the entrance of a building. It had a sign above the entrance with the picture of a Red-Eyes Black Dragon facing a Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

"Welcome to Legendary Dragons." The bully introduced. "One of Domino City's newest card shops."

The other boys, including Andrew, stared at the sign with awe, before the latter asked him.

"And we're going to duel each other here?"

"That's right. You see, this place is preparing a little tournament and I thought you and I could have some fun by beating down other players, before we settle this in the final duel."

"And how are you certain that you can make it to the final?"

The bully smirked. "Please, there's no way I would lose to anyone around here. You should worry about yourself. After all, if you lose even once before getting the chance to face me, then you can forget about these cards." He said as he held the cards he took from the kids. "So, are you in or not?"

Andrew glanced at the two younger boys who gave him a concerned look before he looked at the bully. "Alright, I'm in."

"Then let's go." The group entered the shop. The inside was quite impressive. There were some shelves with booster packs and starter decks on the bottom floor, and there were stairs leading to the second floor, where you could find even more cards.

They went to the counter at the end of the hall, were a woman with short brown hair, wearing a light-blue shirt was sitting behind. She looked up to the boys approaching her.

"Can I help you?" She asked politely.

The bully smirked and wrapped an arm around Andrew's neck, to his annoyance. "Well me and my friend here would like to register for the card shop tournament." Andrew freed himself from his grip.

The counter girl nodded. "Yes, of course." She took up two paper forms and placed them on the desk. "Just fill these forms, please." The two boys did what she asked them. They wrote down their names, their ages, stuff like that. After that, they handed the forms to the lady who nodded. "Good, now you may enter." She said, as she pointed towards the door behind her.

Andrew glanced at the two younger boys before turning to her. "Is it okay for these two to watch the tournament?"

The woman gave him a smile. "Yes, of course."

The two younger said thank you before heading inside, along with Andrew and the bully. They looked around and saw how big the hall was. There was a bunch of people sitting at tables and playing Duel Monsters, using game mat's instead of duel disks.

"Whoa, this place is big." The boy with the purple jacket said.

"And there are so many duelists in here." The boy with the green jacket added.

The bully turned to Andrew, giving hims cocky grin. "Well then, Andrew, let's see if you have what it takes to beat the best."

The hero duelist raided an eyebrow. "You're making it sound like you are a champion or something. You better not get cocky."

The bully widened his grin. "As a matter of fact, I became the champion of last year's card shop tournament."

Andrew and the kids were surprised by this.

"Hehe. You better not lose before you face me. Otherwise, you can forget about our deal. Well, smell ya later." He then went over to a corner to hang up his jacket.

"Geez, what a jerk." Andrew muttered. He then felt someone tugging him at his right sleeve. He looked down and saw it was the boy with purple jacket.

"Hey, Andrew. Are you really going through with this? What if you lose?"

Andrew kneeled down and looked at him with a reassuring look on his face. "Don't worry, I won't lose. I understand if that guy is tough, but I won my fair share of duels. So you two can count on me to get back the cards he stole from you."

The two boys glanced at each other for a moment before smiling at him. "Thank you, Andrew." The boy with the green jacket said.

"No problem. Oh, by the way, you never told me your names."

"I'm Victor." The boy with the green jacket said.

"And I'm Tom." The boy with the purple jacket added.

"Well then, Victor, Tom. Wish me luck." Andrew stood up and walked away to prepare himself. _'Sorry mom. But your fruit salad will have to wait.'_

* * *

Meanwhile, the parents were still doing their stuff back home. George was relaxing in the living room. Marie was still working on the dishes. As she was cooking, she glanced at the clock on the wall, and apparently, it has been 30 minutes since Andrew left.

"I wonder why Andrew is taking so long?" She said.

"I'm sure everything is fine." George said, still sitting on the coach. "He should be able to get the fruit."

Marie stared at the clock before focusing on the dishes again. "I guess you're right." She let a small smile form on her face, deciding she shouldn't worry about Andrew.

* * *

 _Back to the card shop_

Andrew have been working quite hard. After one of the card shop workers, acting as the judge, explained the rules of the tournament, the participants started the duels. Each contestant took their seat at the tables and dueled each other. Those who Andrew dueled were pretty tough, but he managed to defeat them, one after another. Eventually, he managed to get to the final round. The judge walked up to table in the middle of the hall, were the finalists were supposed to take their seats.

"And now it's time for the final duel! Now introducing, Andrew Wilson!" The named Academy student walked up to the table. "And his opponent, the last year's champion, Masayuki Yuda!" The opponent walked up to the opposite side of the table. And it turned out the person named Masayuki was the bully Andrew was supposed to deal with. Now when he wasn't wearing his winter clothes, he was wearing a black shirt and blue jeans. "Duelists, shuffle your opponent's deck." Both duelists took out their decks from their deck holders and gave them to each other. The other people gathered around the table. Victor and Tom were standing right behind Andrew.

As they were shuffling the decks, Masayuki couldn't help but smirk. "So you managed to make it to the final, eh? Then this might be fun."

Andrew scowled. "Just don't forget to hand over…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know! I will hand over the cards I took from the brats… if you defeat me of course." That said, they both gave back each other's decks and took their seats.

"Are you ready?" The judge asked, making both players nod their. "Then let the final duel… begin!"

Andrew and Masayuki drew their opening hands.

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Masayuki: 4000**

"I hope you're ready… to lose." Masayuki said as he drew his sixth card. "First I summon Goblin Attack Force in attack mode." He placed a monster card on the table. It had a picture of a group of green goblins, wearing purple shirts with tan leather armor and holding metal clubs. ( **ATK: 2300** DEF: 0 LV: 4) "Then I'll end my turn with a facedown card." He placed the card right behind the goblin card.

"My turn then." Andrew drew a card and placed a certain spell card on the table. "I play the spell card Polymerization. And I'll use it to fuse Elemental HERO Knospe and Elemental HERO Avian." He took the named monster from his hand and placed them on the spot for the graveyard. He then went through his fusion deck and took the fusion monster he was looking for. "And in their place, I summon Elemental HERO Gaia." He placed the fusion monster card on the table, showing everyone watching this the picture of the black armored giant. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF: 2600 LV: 6)

Masayuki scoffed. "That card is 100 points short."

"That's true, but Gaia has a special ability. When he's fusion summoned he absorbs half of your monster's attack points."

The audience were amazed of what Andrew said, that is until Masayuki smirked and placed his right hand on his facedown card.

"Too bad, but I'm afraid you won't be able to use it, thanks to my trap card." He flipped it up to reveal a trap card with the picture of Dark Ruler Ha Des, who was getting weaker by some kind of aura. "It's called Skill Drain and it works like this; first I must pay 1000 life points in order to activate it…"

 **Masayuki: 4000-3000**

"Then, as long as this card remains on the field, the special abilities of all monsters on the field are negated."

Everyone watching this had different reactions. Some of them gasped by surprise, while others where grimacing, like they've been in this situation before.

Andrew wasn't so pleased either. "But then, my Gaia won't get any extra points."

The bully gave him a smug look. "That's the whole point, loser. Now make your move."

Andrew grunted, before he placed a card behind Gaia. "I play a facedown and end my turn."

"Back to me then." Masayuki looked at the card he drew and smirked. "I summon Chainsaw Insect." The monster card he placed on the table had the picture of a giant beetle with chainsaws for mandibles. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 0 LV: 4) Victor couldn't help but gasp at this.

"Chainsaw Insect? That's my card!"

Andrew glanced at him for a second before giving Masayuki a glare. "Did you add his card to your deck?"

"So what if I did? All that matters to me is to be the best, and for that, I need the best cards I can find." Those words caused some people of the audience to whisper to each other.

"What a jerk."

"I can't believe he would do something like that."

"He should be disqualified for that."

If Masayuki heard them, he just ignored them as he made his move. "From starters I attack your Gaia with Goblin Attack Force." Andrew sighed as he placed his Gaia card on the graveyard.

 **Andrew: 4000-3900**

"And then I'll…"

"Stop right there." Andrew interrupted as he revealed his facedown card. "I play the trap card Hero Signal. Since my monster was destroyed, I get to summon a level 4 or lower Elemental HERO from my hand or deck." While explaining, he searched through his deck to find the monster he wanted to summon. After a couple of seconds, he found it. "And I choose Elemental HERO Shadow Mist." He placed the monster card sideways, with the picture of the black armored female face up. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1500** LV: 4)

"Hmph. Fine, I'll attack that weakling instead."

Andrew smiled as he placed his monster on the graveyard. "Now I can use Shadow Mist's special ability. Since she was sent to the graveyard, I can take a HERO monster from my deck and add it to my hand. I choose Elemental HERO Ice Edge." He took the named from his deck and placed it on the table before shuffling his deck. Once he was done, he placed the card in his hand.

"You'll need more than that to defeat me." Masayuki commented arrogantly. "After all, I have the advantage here. You see, under normal circumstances, I must switch Goblin Attack Force to defense mode after it attacked, and you draw a card from your deck when Chainsaw Insect attacked or is attacked. But that won't be the case, thanks to my Skill Drain."

 _'So his deck is filled with powerful monsters, whose effects are considered weaknesses. And he can negate those effects with his trap card, not to mention the special abilities of my monsters are negated as well.'_

"I place a card facedown and end my turn." Masayuki placed a facedown card behind Chainsaw insect.

"My turn." Andrew drew a card. "First I activate the spell card Pot of Greed. So now I get to draw two cards. And one of them is King of the Swamp." He revealed a monster card with the picture of a slimy head and pair of equally slimy hands coming out of a swampy lake. "By discarding this monster from my hand, I can add a Polymerization from my deck to my hand." Andrew took out his second Polymerization card from his deck and shuffled. "And then I'll use it to fuse Elemental HERO Ice Edge and Elemental HERO Burstinatrix in order to summon Elemental HERO Absolute Zero." He placed the fusion material monsters on his graveyard and brought the fusion monster card with the picture of the icy armored hero. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 2000 LV: 8)

"And with him, I'll attack your Goblin Attack Force." The bully just huffed as he placed the gobbling card on his graveyard.

 **Masayuki: 3000-2800**

"Not bad, but you can't beat me that easily." Masayuki stated as he revealed his facedown card. "Especially since you triggered my Time Machine trap card. Whenever a monster is destroyed in battle, I'm allowed to summon it back to the field. So I resurrect Goblin Attack Force." And once again, he placed the goblin card on the monster card zone. ( **ATK: 2300** DEF: 0 LV: 4)

"Aww. But Andrew just destroyed it." Tom moaned.

"Come on. He can't lose to that bully." Victor added.

"I end my turn." Andrew concluded.

"Fine by me." Masayuki drew a card and smirked when saw what he got. "I summon Beast King Barbaros." The monster card he placed on the field had the picture of a creature with a black, four legged lower body and a muscular human-like upper half with a lion head. The creature in the picture carried a red lance in one hand and a round, blue shield in the other. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 1200 LV: 8)

Now it was Tom's turn to gasp. "Hey! That's my card!"

And once again, Andrew gave the bully a glare. "So you're using his card as well."

"Give the loser a prize. Of course I'm using it. This card is fitting for a deck of my caliber."

"You better not get attached to it. Because I will get that card _and_ Chainsaw Insect back, after defeating you."

"In your dreams. Now then, normally Barbaros' attack points would become 1900 since I summoned it without a sacrifice. But of course that won't be the case in this situation. And now I'll have my Barbaros attack your Absolute Zero." Masayuki smirked, believing he was about to win. But was surprised to see Andrew form a smirk of his own on his face, while placing the hero card on the graveyard.

 **Andrew: 3900-3400**

"Thank you. You just triggered my monster's special ability."

"What?" He asked.

"When Absolute Zero leaves the field, all monsters on your side of the field are destroyed."

"W-WHAT?!" Masayuki was flabbergasted by this.

The audience on the other hand was amazed.

"Wow. All monsters?"

"That's incredible."

"Talk about a strong special ability."

The bully growled as he removed his monsters from the monster card zone.

"It looks like you're not doing so well right now." Andrew commented.

"Shut your mouth! You were just lucky so far, but that will change. Make your move."

"If you insist." Andrew drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Heat." He placed the placed the monster with the picture of the white and red armored hero on the table. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And now I attack you directly with him." Masayuki just growled.

 **Masayuki: 2800-1200**

"Next I activate the spell card Swords of Revealing Light." Andrew placed the spell card on the table. "From now on, you can't attack for 3 turns. That's all for now."

"Fine." Masayuki grunted and drew a card. "I might not be able to attack you, but I can build up my army, starting with Fusilier Dragon, the Dual-Mode Beast." He placed another monster card on the table. The creature in its picture was a red metallic monster, shaped like a dragon with beige underbelly. Instead of legs it had a pair of tracks. It was complete with two cannons level its shoulders and one on each side of its head. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 2000 LV: 7) "Just like Barbaros, I can summon this monster without a sacrifice. That would normally cost half of my dragon's original attack and defense points, but you know the drill. I end my turn.

"My move then." Andrew looked at his cards. _'I am safe for now. But I still can't do so much, all because of his trap card. I need to bide my time until I get something.'_  
"First I switch Heat to defense mode." He rotated the card until it's position was sideways. "Then I summon Elemental HERO Flash in defense mode." He placed the card with the picture of the blue and silver clad, electric hero. (ATK: 1100 **DEF: 1600** LV: 4) "I end my turn."

"Pathetic." Masayuki said. "I on the other will play Majestic Mech - Ohka in attack mode." The monster card he placed on the table had the picture of a four legged, dog-like creature with. It was made of white and reddish metal. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 1400 LV: 6)

"Another monster without needing a sacrifice?" Andrew asked, even though it was obvious to him.

"That's right. And if I didn't have my trap card in play, then this monster would have been destroyed at the end of my turn. Now it's your move."

"Okay, here goes." Andrew looked at the card he got and placed it on the table. "I play a facedown card and end my turn."

"My move then." Masayuki looked at the card he drew and chuckled mentally. _'That loser doesn't know what I have in store for him. I bet that his facedown card is something to destroy my monsters. That won't stop me, especially when I'm about to summon the most powerful monster in my deck.'_ I end my turn."

And since that was the third turn after Andrew played Swords of Revealing Light, he placed that card on the graveyard. "Here goes." He drew a card. "I play a facedown monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"This doesn't look good for Andrew." Victor said.

"Masayuki's monsters are too strong." Tom added.

"And it's about to get worse." Masayuki replied. "It's my move now. And I'll start by playing Pot of Greed, which means two more cards for me." He smirked when he saw what he got.

 _'This can't be good.'_ Andrew thought.

"Now it's time to bring out the big gun. By removing from play a machine-type monster, like Machine Lord Ür…" He revealed a monster card from his hand, with the picture of a red, vaguely humanoid monster. "…and a Beast-Warrior-type monster, like Beast King Barbaros…" He took out the named card from the graveyard and placed it on the side, along with the machine card. "I'm allowed to summon Beast Machine King Barbaros Ür." He took another monster card from his hand and placed it on the table. It had a picture of a monster with the same appearance as the original. Except that this creature had grayish skin. And instead of a red lance and a blue shield, it was wearing an armor made of the body of Machine Lord Ür. The machine monster's arms were attached over its own. ( **ATK: 3800** DEF: 1200 LV: 8)

The people watching this gasped at the attack strength of the new monster.

"What? 3800 points?"

"That's crazy!"

"This doesn't look good."

Masayuki smirked triumphantly. "Impressive, isn't it. Without Skill Drain, this monster would be unable to deal battle damage."

Andrew grimaced at this.

"And if you think I have forgotten about your facedown card, think again." The bully took a spell card from his hand and placed it on the table. "I'll use Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your facedown card."

Andrew was forced to place his facedown card on the graveyard. It was the trap card known as...

"Mirror Force. Too bad you can't use it." Masayuki said mockingly. "And now for the final touch. I equip Barbaros Ür with the spell card Fairy Meteor Crush." He placed the named spell card right behind the powerful monster. "It works like this; when the equipped monster attacks a monster in defense mode, the difference between my monster's attack points and your monster's defense points are dealt to you as damage."

Victor and Tom were really worried right now.

"No way. If Masayuki's monster can do that…" Victor said.

"Then Andrew will take damage, no matter which battle mode his monsters are in." Tom filled in.

"That's right, and I think I'll have Barbaros Ür attack your Heat."

Andrew placed the named card on the graveyard.

 **Andrew: 3400-0800**

"And then I attack your flash with Majestic Mech - Ohka." Masayuki was about to make his third attack, but Andrew spoke right after placing the hero card on the graveyard.

"You triggered the Flash's special ability. Since he was destroyed in battle, I can remove him from play, along with 3 other Elemental heroes from my graveyard." After placing the monster card on the side, Andrew picked up Ice Edge, Avian and Burstinatrix from the graveyard and placed them above the Flash card. "And then I can take a normal spell card from my graveyard and add it to my hand. I choose Pot of Greed."

Masayuki scoffed. "Whatever. That won't stop me from attacking your facedown card with Fusilier Dragon."

Andrew placed the monster card on the graveyard. It had the picture of a certain turtle creature.

"I think you suffered enough for now. It's your move."

"Then here goes." Andrew drew a card. "Once again, I activate Pot of Greed. So I draw two more cards." He looked at the cards he drew and was slightly disappointed. _'None of these can help me out of this situation. I need to take care of his monsters, and fast.'_  
"I summon Elemental HERO Ocean in attack mode." He placed the monster card with the picture of the aquatic hero on the table. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And that's all."

The audience were surprised by this. Even Victor and Tom.

"What? That's all?" Victor asked.

"What can Andrew do with only one monster on the field?" Tom asked.

Masayuki chuckled. "Is that the best you can do? How pathetic. It appears that you're a weak excuse for an Academy student. Now then, let's end this." He declared as he drew a card. "I attack your monster with Barbaros Ür and that's a win."

Andrew smirked. "It's not over yet."

"Huh?" Masayuki raised an eyebrow.

"You forgot about the monster your dragon attacked earlier." Andrew held up a monster card from his graveyard; the one with the turtle picture. "It's Electromagnetic Turtle. If I have this in my graveyard, I can remove it from play. After that, your battle phase is over."

The bully widened his eyes. Everyone was amazed of this.

"Wow. He stopped the battle phase." Victor said.

"That means Andrew can still win this." Tom added.

Masayuki growled. "Can't you just give up already. There's no way you can win."

"Like I said, this isn't over." Andrew repeated. "I won't stop until the duel comes to the end."

"Hmph, fine. I end my turn. There's nothing you can do anyway."

Andrew glanced at his deck. _'Well, that depends on the next card I draw. This is the last chance I have to win.'_ He placed his hand on his deck, with a determined look on his face. _'_ _This is all or nothing!'_ He drew a card and paused for a moment. He then looked at the card he and a smile was formed on his face.

Masayuki gave him a glare. "What are you so happy about?"

"I got just what I need to end this duel."

The bully was shocked. "Y-you're bluffing!"

"I'm not bluffing, and I'll prove it with this." Andrew placed a certain spell card on the table. "I activate the spell card Mask Change. With this I can send a HERO monster I have on the field to the graveyard and summon a Masked HERO from my fusion deck with the same attribute as that monster. So I send Elemental HERO Ocean to my graveyard…" He placed the named monster card there and took a card from his fusion deck. "…and in his place I summon Masked HERO Acid." He placed the dark blue armored fusion monster on the table. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2100 LV: 8)

Masayuki blinked twice before smirking. "Pff, all that talk and you summoned a monster with 2600 attack points? Hate to break it for you, loser, but that's not enough for you to win."

"That's what you think." Andrew replied.

"Huh?"

"With my Masked HERO, I'll attack your Beast Machine King Barbaros Ür."

Everyone in the hall, including Masayuki gasped at this.

"What are you doing Andrew!?" Victor asked.

"If you attack him with your monster, you'll lose."

"Not exactly." Andrew said as he glanced at the two kids before taking a card from his hand. "Because I activate the spell card Battle Fusion."

"What does that do?" The bully asked.

"When my fusion monster attacks or is attacked, I can use this card to increase it's attack points with the same amount as the opposing monster's attack points.

"W-W-WHAAAT!?" The bully screamed in shock.

"Wait, so Andrew's Masked HERO has 2600 attack points and Barbaros Ür has 3800 attack points." Victor said.

"If those points were added together, then that makes…" Tom added.

"6400 attack points." Andrew filled in. "More than enough to wipe out the rest of your life points. You lose Masayuki.

 **Masayuki: 1200-0000**

The judge nodded before raising an arm. "The duel is over and the winner of this tournament is: Andrew Wilson!"

The audience cheered loudly for this outcome.

"He did it!" Victor cheered.

"He defeated Masayuki!" Tom added.

The bully was staring at the table and clenched his fists while growling. "This can't be. How could I Lose?" He then glared at Andrew. "You! How could you defeat me? Tell me!"

Andrew ignored his question and held out his right hand. "Hand over the cards you stole from the kids."

"What?" Masayuki asked, getting even angrier.

"You lost the duel, so give them back as you promised."

"Never!"

Everyone gave the bully angry looks.

"You jerk. You promised to give the cards back."

"Yeah. Hand them over now!"

Masayuki looked around as he kept listening their protests. As he couldn't tolerate this any longer, he forcibly grabbed Beast King Barbaros and Chainsaw Insect, before giving them to Andrew. "This stinks. I'm outta here." He stood up and left the hall.

After the bully left, Andrew gave the cards to the kids. The insect card to Victor and the beast-warrior card to Tom. "Here you go."

"Thanks Andrew." The boys said gratefully.

"Now then, let's give our new champion some applause."

Everyone did as the judge said, and applauded. Andrew waved to everyone while smiling.

* * *

Some time later, the three boys came out of the card shop. In the right hand, Andrew was holding a small box filled with Duel Monsters cards. That was the prize for winning the tournament.

"Well, that was exciting." Andrew said. "I'm sure that bully won't bother you guys again."

"Yeah, I hope so." Victor replied.

"Thanks again for helping us." Tom said.

"No problem. Oh, and by the way…" Andrew held up the card box in front the kids. "I want you two to have these."

They were surprised by this.

"What? But why?" Tom asked.

"You're the one who won the tournament." Victor added.

"True, but I'm fine with the cards I already have. I think you guys might have better use for them."

The kids were hesitant.

"It's okay, take them. Consider these cards as an early Christmas gift."

The two younger glanced at each other for a moment. And then, they smiled and turned to Andrew. Victor took the card box.

"Thanks Andrew." They said.

"You're welcome." He said. "Well, it's been fun, but I've got some errands to do."

"It's fine, we need to go home anyway." Tom said.

"I hope we see you again. Bye-bye." The boys ran off, leaving Andrew alone.

"Hehe. I think they might be great duelists someday." He then walked in the opposite direction. "Now to get some fruits…"

* * *

George was placing the plates on the table and Marie was about to finish the last dishes, save from the turkey which was about to be done around 20 minutes. The mother glanced at the clock and realized it's been a while since Andrew left.

"Andrew has been gone for over an hour now." She said a little worried.

"It appears so." The father agreed. "I wonder what's…" He stopped at mid sentence when they heard the sound of the door opening.

"I'm home!" A familiar voice called out. The parents left the kitchen to see Andrew taking off his winter clothes, with a paper bag standing at his feet.

"Welcome home, Andrew." Marie greeted.

"Where have you been, son?" George asked. "We were just wondering why you took so long."

"Sorry about that. There were so many people in the store." He lied.

"Well, that's understandable. It's almost Christmas, after all."

"Yeah." Andrew was now wearing his normal clothing. "Oh, here's the fruits." He handed the paper bag to his mom.

"Thanks dear. Now to finish the dinner." She headed back to kitchen.

* * *

And so, the feast was complete. There were many varieties of dishes, something like christmas ham, mashed potato, fish, stuff like that.

"And done. Everything looks great." Marie said proudly as she took off the apron.

"It looks so delicious, honey." George complimented.

"I couldn't agree more." Andrew added. "All that's left is our relatives…" Just as those words left his mouth, they heard the doorbell ringing. "Talk about timing." He went to the hall and opened the door, revealing to be the relatives. The first ones to step in were an old couple. The old man was wearing a black coat and gloves. His hair was grayish and he had brown eyes, just like Andrew. The old woman was wearing an orange jacket and red gloves. Just like the old man, she had grayish hair, but her eye-color was purple.

"Ah, Andrew. How are you young man?" The man addressed him.

"I'm fine." Andrew replied. "It's good to see you grandpa and grandma."

"It's good to see you too." The grandma said as she gave him a hug.

Soon after, another couple stepped inside. They looked young, around the same age as Andrew's parents, but slightly older, most likely at their early 40's. The man was wearing a blue jacket and gloves. He had short black hair and the same green eyes like Andrew's mother. The woman was wearing a pink coat and gloves. She had dark-blonde hair and light-blue eyes.

"Uncle Manuel and Aunt Sheilah." Andrew greeted.

"Hey there, Andrew." The man named Manuel greeted back.

"Nice to see you." Sheilah said, giving him a bright smile.

"Same here."

"Yo, what's up cuz?" A female voice greeted from behind the uncle and aunt. It was a girl who was slightly shorter than Andrew. Most likely around 1 year younger than him. She was wearing a red jacket and blue gloves. She had the same eye-color as the aunt. And her hair was as black as the uncle. It was short and most of it was hidden under a red cap with white lining she was wearing.

"Hey there, Angie." Andrew greeted.

"How's my favorite cousin?" She asked with a grin and an attitude that reminded Andrew of a certain Slifer student.

"More like your only cousin." Andrew replied amused, before giving her a high five.

"Oh great, everyone's here." Marie said as she came out of the kitchen. "Now come on in, the dinner is ready."

After everyone took off their winter clothes, they all took their seats and started to enjoy the food.

"Delicious." The grandpa said.

"Yeah, It's just as tasty as last year. As expected of my sister." Manuel complimented.

"You are so sweet." Marie said, appreciating the compliments.

"It's a shame that you won't be here for Christmas." George stated.

"Yeah, but it can't be helped." The grandpa replied. "Because Peter is all alone where he lives, and because of him being so busy with the pro league, he almost never have the time to visit us."

"That's what big bro is. Always busy of being one of the best." Angie said.

"And as much as we want to come with you, it wouldn't be easy. After all, a trip from here to San Diego is very expensive." Marie admitted.

"It should be fine." Andrew said, getting everyone's attention. "I'm sure Peter understand the situation, as long as he knows we wish him a merry christmas." The family smiled and nodded in approval. "I just hope it won't be the same problem with me, when I become a Pro duelist." He said jokingly, making some of the relatives laugh.

"You think you'll be as good as big bro?" Angie asked.

Andrew shrugged. "Maybe. I might be skilled for now, but I still got a lot to learn."

The cousin nodded and gave him a teasing grin as she decided to change subject. "So tell me cuz, is there any pretty academy girl you're interested in?"

Andrew now became red in the face. "W-where did that come from!?"

"I just want to know if you got a _love interest_."

"No, I don't!"

Angie just kept grinning, but decided to leave it, for now. And so, the family continued with the dinner and enjoyed the evening.

* * *

 **Whoa. Finally done. I really wanted to finish this chapter earlier, but I was, how should we put it... held back. And there were two reasons for that.**

 **1: I had some problems to figure out the plot of this chapter. But luckily for me, pokemonking0924 was generous enough to give me a bunch of chapter ideas I can choose from. Thank you very much.**

 **2: I was also distracted by a fanfic story I found. A Ben10/Fairy Tail Crossover story known as "The Null Fairy". I think that story is interesting. So for you who haven't read it yet, I suggest you should.**

 **Alright, that should be enough. Until next time.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A Spirit Summoned**

Today was a couple of days after Christmas, and everything was peaceful in Domino City. Most of the people was relaxing in their homes, including the Wilson family. Andrew was laying on his bed in his room and contemplating everything that happened so far during the winter break.

"Well, this winter break has been unexpected. It's not every day you have to face a local bully while doing some christmas shopping." He said jokingly. He then glanced at his desk where he placed all the christmas gifts he got this year:

A new game-console, a few video games and some new clothes.

"But at least everything's been good at the end." Andrew said smiling. He got up from the bed and walked up to the window and looked outside. "I wonder how Jaden and the others are doing. It's not like anything crazy is happening there or something.

* * *

Well, Andrew couldn't be more wrong, because if we take a look back at the Academy island, around sometime not too long after many of the students left there, something really happened there. It was a cloudy night and someone was running through the forest.

"Help! Help!" It was an Obelisk boy with long brown that dropped down to shoulder level and wore glasses. He was running as fast as he could, like he was chased by someone, or something.

 _'I can't believe this is happening!'_ He thought. _'I can't believe he came alive. And took my friends!'_ He was no doubt very terrified.

"Please! Someone Heeelp!"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Slifer dorm, Jaden, Syrus and Chumley were hanging out with each other in the cafeteria. With many students gone, it was quiet and peaceful there. Professor Banner was with them too, being the only faculty member left to chaperone them. And surprisingly enough, Michael, who decided to stay at the academy during the winter break, joined them.

"I can't believe everyone left for winter break. The campus feels so… empty." Jaden said. "Oh well, all the more dueling for us, I guess."

"Yeah, and all the more cafeteria food too." Chumley added.

"Yes, which makes you wonder why all we've been eating are marshmallows." Banner wondered, as he and the koala duelist were sitting in front of a small barbecue grill with a few marshmallows cooking.

"We've already downed all of the grilled cheeses."

"We?"

"Either way, marshmallows aren't so bad." Michael said.

"And it's nice that you would join us." Banner said.

"Go, Elemental HERO Clayman!" As for Jaden and Syrus, they were dueling each other and the hero duelist just summoned his trustworthy stone warrior, while his blue-headed friend had Gyroid and Cycroid on his side of the field.

While Banner, Michael and Chumley watched the duel, the professor's cat Pharaoh watched the marshmallows grow bigger and bigger. And then...

POP!

"MEOW!" Pharaoh freaked out as one of the marshmallows exploded, sending bits of white goo everywhere.

"I'm not going to eat that one." Michael commented.

At the same time, a certain someone came out of the forest, right outside the Slifer dorm. It was the Obelisk boy who where running earlier. He was panting due to having running so much and looked like he was about to collapse.

"Heelp." He moaned, before falling forward, crashing through the door.

Everyone inside the cafeteria stopped whatever they were doing and saw the fallen Obelisk blue student, laying down on the floor among pieces of shattered of glass and wood.

"Uh, guys?" Syrus said.

Jaden approached him. "Whoa bro, you like you've seen a ghost."

The boy raised his head and looked at them a terrified look in his eyes. "I... I have…"

"Uh... What are you talking about?" Jaden asked weirdly.

"Jinzo, the dueling card!"

"Uh, Professor Banner, you might call the school nurse."

As the other three approached the three boys, Banner spoke to the Obelisk blue student. "I know you. Your name's Torrey. You were in my Para-dueling class."

The boy now named Torrey looked at the teacher and grabbed his legs. "Yeah. That's right, Professor Banner. And everything you said was right about duel spirits being real… it was all true!"

"Uh, better make that the school therapist." Jaden commented.

Michael knelt down to Torrey's level and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Just calm down Torrey, and tell us everything that happened, from the very beginning."

"Yes…"

* * *

 **Flashback**

 _"A while back, I told some of my friends about your class and how you said that under certain conditions duel spirits can come to life." Torrey narrated. "Well... we started trying to create those conditions, even though we knew the academy forbids it. We did it a couple of times and nothing ever happened... until yesterday."_

In the library, Torrey was standing in front of a table, with two friends. One of them was a shorter boy, and the other one was a broad boy who was wearing glasses, like Torrey. Each person was wearing a white cloak and held a set of candles. The shorter boy placed a board on the table and looked at his friends.

 _"Maybe it was because we used our bed sheets as cloaks, or that we used Dr Crowler's bath candles, but anyway, this time something was different. You see, we all put our hands on a mystic box, said the_ _chant, and it happened…"_

"From vapor to flesh,  
from the wind to a roar,  
Come Jinzo from the  
Land of Yore."

The three boys suddenly heard a creaky sound from the second floor and saw one of the books falling down. Just as they started to get nervous, they felt the glass move and watched as it began settling on different letters.

 **Flashback end**

* * *

As Torrey was telling this, he started to shake in fear. "Then the mystic box spelled out 'Give me three and I'll be free'." He raised his head. "We thought that he meant cards."

Banner frowned. "Oh dear me, no. Jinzo's appetite would never be satiated by mere cards. This is just awful."

"Wait, so what did the three mean Torrey?" Syrus asked.

"It meant people."

"People!?"

"Yes and unfortunately we had agreed," Torrey lowered is head. "before we knew better."

"So... your friends?"

"They're both gone. I've looked everywhere, but it's like they just vanished into thin air. First it was one, then the other and I just know it's going to be me next!"

Syrus was so frightened he ended up falling on the floor, landing on his butt.

Jaden, Michael and Chumley glanced at each other, before the dark duelist asked him. "You sure they didn't just go home for winter break, Torrey?"

"I hoped, but I called their parents, and they didn't know where they were. I doubt they could've made it home anyway. After all, I tried to leave the island…"

* * *

 **Flashback**

 _"... but couldn't. You see, once I got to the ferry... there he was, waiting for me."_ Torrey was carrying a black bag while running towards the pier. There were a lot of students who were about to step aboard on the ferry. When he arrived, he saw someone who was already aboard on the ship. It was hard to tell the person's appearance since they were wearing a black trench coat and a hat.

"Hehehehe. Going somewhere?" The person asked as they revealed a part of their face... or rather, a part of a green mask.

As soon as Torrey could see it he realized who it was. He screamed and ran away.

"Run, but you can't hide."

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"… there's no escape." Torrey trembled even more.

Everyone were silent.

 _'Well we seem to be safe here.'_ Jaden thought.

Suddenly, the lights went off, making the whole room dark.

"What was that!?" Syrus asked, panicked a little.

"Easy Syrus, maybe it was just a fuse." Banner suggested.

"Yeah, or maybe a bulb." Chumley added.

"Or maybe... it was me!"

The Slifer trio and Michael screamed, while Pharaoh meowed in fright. Banner didn't react as much as the others, but he seemed to be surprised. They saw the same trench coat wearing person who was chasing Torrey. They noticed the latter being unconscious and held by the culprit.

"Let him go, Jinzo !" Jaden demanded.

"We have a deal." Jinzo said before running off.

"Not if I can stop ya!" Jaden ran after him.

"Wait up!" Syrus called out as he and the others followed him.

"Aw, not running." Chumley complained.

"Where are you going!?" Jaden kept running through the forest. _'Spirit or not, I'm stopping him.'_ He then realized he lost track of the kidnapper. _'uh, if can find him.'_

"Where did he go?" Syrus asked he and the others caught up with him.

"I don't know."

"You should work on your tracking skills, Jaden." Michael pointed.

"Aw, don't tell me I ran all that way for nothing." Chumley said.

Jaden scratched at the back of his head, embarrassed by this. Everyone then heard Banner's cat meowing and growling as it was looking in a certain direction.

"Pharaoh, what's wrong?" The headmaster asked.

"I think he can sense him." Syrus guessed.

"Well, only one way to find out." Jaden said he ran in that direction, followed by the rest of the gang.

"Why does spirits always go to the spookiest places?" Chumley asked, complaining again.

"We gotta find Jinzo."

The cat led the students and his master through the forest until they reached an area with fenced off perimeter, a tall metal tower at each corner with wires and generators lining the fence.

"What is this place?" Syrus asked.

"From the looks of it, this must be the central power station for the entire island." Banner replied. "But I do not see Jinzo anywhere."

Jaden took a few steps, before he noticed a certain someone laying on the ground on the other side of the power station. "Well I see Torrey. You're safe pal." He was about to approach him, but stopped when the complex came to life with electricity.

As soon as the electric crackling settled down, everyone saw Jinzo without his trench coat and hat, standing right in front of them in his true form: a tall humanoid in a dark green suit and had some metal mask on his face. Only his form was like a blurry hologram. "None of you are safe!"

"Jinzo!" Chumley gasped.

"What the hell?" Michael said.

"What's going on Professor Banner?" Syrus asked. "How is Jinzo appearing like that?"

"It is the electricity. He'a using the current to power himself up. He's a clever one."

"Let Torrey go Jinzo!" Jaden demanded. "If you need a third sacrifice so bad, well then... then just take me instead! You here me Jinzo, take me!"

"Oh no!"

"Jaden!"

"What are you doing!?"

"You're doing it with more vitality than this human. I'll take you up on your offer."

"Fine, on one condition though. You and I duel. If you win, you take _my_ life energy. But I win, and you give back the other two you took."

"A duel? Very well. I should be able to be sustained by this electrical limbo long enough for a match. First I'll beat you, then I'll consume you!"

"Yeah, we'll see. Now come on and get your game on, Jinzo!" Jaden activated his duel disk. "Let's throw down!"

 **Jaden: 4000**

 **Jinzo: 4000**

"Yes, let's…" Jinzo replied as five large cards appeared behind him as his opening hand and a sixth card appeared in front of him. "First, I summon Malice Doll of Demise in attack mode." A creepy wooden doll with pointy teeth appeared on his field. It was holding an axe with a glowing blade. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1700 LV: 4)

"Uwah! That is one creepy doll." Michael shuddered. "I've seen something like that from a horror movie."

"And next, I'll activate the spell card Ectoplasmer." Another card appeared in front of Jinzo. "This fiendish spirit allows each player to sacrifice one monster at the end of their turn. Then, half of that monster's attack points are dealt to the opposing player as damage." A ghostly spirit rose from the doll, like a snake and flew towards Jaden, whirling around him to cause damage.

 **Jaden: 4000-3200**

"Oh no! Jaden's already falling behind!" Syrus said.

 _'That's a continuous spell card. He'll be able to use it's magic every turn. But then... so will I.'_  
"Alright spooky, here I come!" Jaden drew a card and looked at his hand. "Only one monster, but it will have to do. I summon Elemental HERO Avian in attack mode!" The winged green hero rose in front of Jaden. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1000 LV: 3) "And next, I'm throwing down four facedowns and playing a continuous spell card of my own." He held up the spell card known as Mirage of Nightmare. "Now when it's your turn, I get to draw four cards, but then during my turn, I have to discard four. But before all that, I'm gonna have my Hero Avian attack you! Windstorm Strike!" The hero simply flew towards Jinzo and gave him a punch that passed through his body.

 **Jinzo: 4000-3000**

"But I'm not done yet. Now I'm gonna use your own Ectoplasmer's sacrifice effect against you. I'm gonna give up Avian and you're gonna have to give up half of his attack points from your life points." Avian lowered his body and his spirit rose from it. And just like its physical form, it gave Jinzo a punch. "Yeah!"

 **Jinzo: 3000-2500**

"That's the spirit!" Syrus cheered. "I mean that's how you beat a spirit. I mean, oh, you know..."

"Alright, we got a game now!"

"A game that you soon will lose." Jinzo replied as another card appeared in front of him. "After all, since Malice Doll of Demise was sent to the graveyard due to the effect of a spell card, he automatically resurrects." The creepy doll appeared with same menacing look. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1700 LV: 4)

"Speaking of spells, mine now activates, Mirage of Nightmare! I get to draw four cards." Jaden said as he drew four cards. "And next, I'll play one of my facedowns." A certain spell card revealed itself. "Oh yeah, Emergency Provisions! And I'll have to discard Mirage to use it."

 **Jaden: 3200-4200**

"What a move!" Chumley said. "He got a thousand points _and_ ditched Mirage. Now he won't have to toss any cards from his hand."

"I summon Emissary of the Afterlife in attack mode!" A fiendish reaper like creature with a black cloak, wielding a scythe floated next to the doll. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 600 LV: 4)

"Of course on second thought, it might have been smart to play a little defense." Chumley whimpered.

"And since you have no monsters out, I can wager a direct attack. Sickle Slasher!" The reaper raised its scythe, ready to strike.

"Not so fast!I play A Hero Emerges!" Jaden called out as another one of his facedown cards revealed itself. "Now you have to pick one of the cards in my hand in random, and if it's a monster, I can summon it."

"Far right." Electricity crackled around the card Jinzo pointed at.

"Hey nice pick... well for me anyway. Say hello to Elemental HERO Sparkman!" The golden, electric hero appeared in front of Jaden. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1400 LV: 4) And as soon as he appeared, Sparkman gave the reaper creature a counter attack as they both collided with each other and were destroyed.

"Foolish mortal! By sending Emissary to the graveyard, his special effect is activated. Now each of us can take a monster from our decks and place them in our hands. And I choose Thousand Eyes Idol." A card image of the monster appeared in front of Jinzo.

"Well I choose good ol' Burstinatrix." Jaden held up the card he chose.

"So be it. Now to continue with my turn. Now Malice Doll attack! Go, Cleaver Heaver!" The doll threw its axe at Jaden. He groaned in pain as it passed right through him.

 **Jaden: 4200-2600**

"And don't forget the magic of Ectoplasmer." The spirit of the doll rose up and circled around Jaden once more. He groaned in pain.

 **Jaden: 2600-1800**

"Having this duel was an excellent idea. It's much better to enjoy something slowly rather than taking it all at once."

"Jaden, your legs! They're fading!" Syrus yelled out.

The hero duelist looked down and to his shock, his legs were holographic, just like Jinzo's body. "What's happening?"

"I'm collecting on our deal. You've lost half your life points, so I'm taking half your life force and it feels good."

"Okay, that's just messed up." Michael said.

"I'm not gonna let you take me Jinzo! I'll duel to the end!" Jaden drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Clayman in attack mode!" The big, rock hero appeared in front of him. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 2000 LV: 4) "But wait, that's not all. Next I'll play Clay Wrap from my field and equip Clayman with it." The hero was covered in a slimy wrap. "And I'll just keep on going with Polymerization. I'll fuse Burstinatrix with Clayman to summon Elemental HERO Rampart Blaster in attack mode!" The two heroes swirled around each other and landed on the field as the armored feminine hero. ( **ATK: 2000** DEF: 2500 LV: 6) "Here's the sweet part, since Clayman was used in the fusion, both he and Clay Wrap are sent to the graveyard. And that activates a special effect. An effect that lets me destroy a spell card on your field, like that Ectoplasmer for example." The named card shattered into pixels.

"Lishus! Now Jaden won't keep taking damage from Jinzo sacrificing cards."

"And now, it's time to let Blaster do what she does best and that's blasting. Rampart Barrage!" The armored woman shot a series of missiles from he right arm that landed around the spirit.

 **Jinzo: 2500-0500**

The spectator cheered at this.

"You're lucky you didn't have a body for that one." Jaden commented before inserting a card into his duel disk. "Now I'll end my turn by throwing a facedown."

Michael just couldn't help but speak his thoughts out loud. "Although, that Mud Wrap was actually a bad move." This earned him the attention from the spectator.

And Jaden as well. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"What I mean Jaden, is that if you just summoned your Rampart Blaster without destroying Ectoplasmer, you could have used its effect to wipe out the rest of Jinzo's life points."

The hero duelist blinked before he understood what he said. "Um, whoops?"

Micahel couldn't help but face-palm while the other face faulted.

"Okay okay, I made just one mistake. Don't worry guys, I'm still going to win this."

"We'll see about that. My draw!" A new card appeared in front Jinzo, who was pleased when saw what he got. "And I couldn't have asked for a better one. With this card, my resurrection is all the closer."

"What card?"

"Hehehe... I activate Malice Doll's special ability and re-summon him..." The doll came back for the second time, before disappearing instantly. "But only so I can sacrifice _him_ in order to conjure…" The evil spirit laughed evilly as his newest turned around to reveal itself. "Jinzo!" The station's electricity crackled as the spirit disappeared. And then, a lightning struck the new card and its place, a figure rose with dark pink energy. When the light disappeared, everyone could see the creature in its true form. It was none other than Jinzo himself, whose body have become more real than holographic. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 1500 LV: 6)

"Oh come on. I mean, you can't draw yourself!" Jaden protested.

"I just did! And now I can attack you personally." Jinzo conjured a ball of energy. "Cyber Energy Shock, destroy the Rampart Blaster!" He launched it at the fusion monster, blowing it to pieces on contact.

 **Jaden: 1800-1400**

"You're next." Jinzo said, ending his turn.

"Oh no! Jaden's Blaster's gonzo and with Jinzo really out on the field now, Jaden wont able to activate any trap cards because of the special ability he has."

"Alright, it's my move!" Jaden drew his card. "And I summon Wroughtweiler in defense mode." The metal dog jumped in front of him, crouched in defense mode. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 1200** LV: 3) "And there's a reason they call him man's best friend."

"No duh. And if Wroughtweiler is destroyed, Jaden can take Polymerization and an Elemental HERO from his graveyard to put them into his hand."

"It's still a risky play. I hope he knows what he's doing." Syrus said worriedly.

"Ready for more pain, mortal? I summon Spirit Caller in attack mode." An elderly man in robes appeared on Jinzo's field. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1000 LV: 3)

 _'Here it comes."_ Jaden thought to himself.

"And then I'll attack your Wroughtweiler with Cyber Energy Shock!" The spirit fired another shot.

Jaden looked away as the mechanical dog was vaporized, but grinned. "Whoopsie. Now Polymerization and Clayman come back to my hand."

"But not the field, which means Spirit Caller can now attack you directly. Go, Breath from Beyond!" The elderly figure's glowed red before he changed his face into a horrid one and let out a high-pitched screech that passed right through Jaden, making more of his own body turn shimmery and transparent.

 **Jaden: 1400-0400**

"Jaden's not looking too good." Chumley said.

"Aw man." Syrus moaned.

"No kidding. If this keeps up, there's not going to be anything left of him." Michael added.

"Finally, I'll equip myself with the spell card Amplifier. With this, I'm not bound by my own special ability any longer." An electronic helmet appeared on Jinzo's head. Now I can use any trap card I please. So I'm certain you can guess what this facedown might be." Jinzo let out a laughter as a facedown card appeared.

"This so not lishus. Now Jaden's behind on points, monsters and traps too."

"Your demise is imminent."

"I don't think so." Jaden drew his next card. "I'm playing the magic of Pot of Greed. This lets me draw two more cards. Next I'm summoning Elemental HERO Bubbleman." The blue water hero came to his side. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And I'm gonna give him even more pop with this, Bubble Blaster!" Bubbleman's personal water cannon appeared in his hands. "This equip spell card increases its attack points by 800." ( **ATK: 800-1600** "Now attack, with Bombarding Bubble Barrage!" The hero shot a large bubble at Spirit Caller. The bubble burst as soon as it connected, wiping the elderly figure from the field.

"Well done. By destroying Spirit Caller, you walked right into my trap, Spirit Barrier." Jinzo raised his arm to reveal his facedown card. "This keeps me from taking damage as long as there's a monster on my field. And in case you've forgotten, there is… me!"

"You're still just a phantom to me, and this card here is gonna help me keep you that way." Jaden held up a spell card known as… "Fairy of the Spring. With it, I can take one equip spell card from my graveyard and put it in my hand. And I choose this one." He took a certain spell card he used earlier.

"Clay Wrap?" Syrus said.

"Hey, that's the equip that can take out a spell or trap card if get sent to the graveyard. Could come in handy." Chumley said.

"He better make a good use of it this time." Michael added.

"Now I'll throw down a facedown and call it a turn."

"Heh, well I call that pathetic. Almost as pathetic as I'm about to make your Bubbleman look." The evil spirit shot a blast of energy at the hero, but it was destroying the blaster.

"Whoops. Guess I didn't mention that when Bubbleman is equipped with Bubble Blaster, he doesn't burst, it's his weapon that does."

"That buys you one turn. That's all." Jinzo said as facedown card appeared on his field.

"And hopefully, that's all I need." Jaden drew a card and saw it was Winged Kuriboh.

 _"Coo."_

 _'Kuriboh.'_ The spirit appeared beside him. _'Oh yeah, I'm with you pal. He is one ugly dude.'_

The furry spirit let out a 'coo' in agreement.

"A spirit?" Jnzo wondered.

"He's a friend first and spirit second. Which is probably why he doesn't need to snack on human souls to chill out here on the land of the living. Now back to business. I play hero Clayman!" The stone warrior appeared on the field again. "And I'm gonna outfit him with the Clay Wrap that I brought back from the graveyard." The slimy wrap covered Clayman once again. "But I'm not done just yet. Next I'm gonna bust out Polymerization and fuse him with Bubbleman to create Elemental HERO Mudballman!" The two heroes swirled around each other and were replaced by the big round hero. ( **ATK: 1900** DEF: 3000 LV: 6) "And since has now been sent to the graveyard, I can use it special effect and destroy... that Amplifier!" Jinzo's helmet blew up, forcing him to revert to his transparent form.

"Lishus! And when Amplifier is sent to the graveyard, the monster that it's equipped to is destroyed too."

"Which means Jaden can use trap cards again."

"Nice. Way to play, Jay!"

Electricity crackled around Jinzo's body before an explosion occurred. Jaden started to cheer, but then… "No! I'm too close. I won't let it end here. I REFUSE!" And then suddenly, Torrey shakily stood up.

"Torrey, are you okay?"

When Obelisk boy turned around, everyone could see his eyes glowing red. "I'm not Torrey. I am Jinzo, and I raise myself from the graveyard with Call of the Haunted."

"No you don't! I activate the trap card Solemn Judgment!" Jaden's facedown card revealed itself, showing an old man with two praying women standing behind him. "Sure, it takes half my life points to use, but that's okay…"

 **Jaden: 0400-0200**

"Cuz it also takes that trap card you were about to play and destroys it." The trap card flipped up and shattered into pixels.

"NO!"

"And now here Mudballman, finish him. Fire Shockwave!" The large hero jumped in the air and launched a red shockwave at Torrey's possessed body.

 **Jinzo: 0500-0000**

As the attack made contact, a bright light appeared and engulfed the whole area, causing the students and Banner lose consciousness.

* * *

When they opened their eyes, they realized that they were still at power station, but it was morning.

"You okay?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Michael replied.

"What happened? Did I miss breakfast?" Chumley asked.

Jaden chuckled at Chumley's words. He then took note of the fact that Torrey was back to the same condition he was before. Not only that, his two friends were also back.

"They're all back, safe and sound." Banner said relieved.

"Think they know what happened." Syrus asked.

 _'Probably best if they forgot. But I sure won't. Duel spirits aren't jus real, they're dangerous.'_  
"What do you say we get out of here guys and let them sleep it off. I'm sure their spirits are weary." Jaden joked, but he was the only one laughing.

"Really Jaden?" Michael asked.

"Oh come on, that was good."

"You know what'd be good? Some grilled marshmallow sandwiches."

"We haven't run out yet?" Syrus asked the koala duelist.

"I'm not running anywhere."

"Hahaha! Good one." Michael said.

"Come on. How was that funny?" Jaden asked.

* * *

After winter break was officially over, the students who left the island have returned. The ferry arrived at the pier and all the students walked down the boat ramp, including Andrew.

"Ah. It's nice to be back." He sighed.

"It sure is." A feminine voice spoke up from behind. Andrew turned around and saw Jenny greeting him.

"Hey Jenny. How was your winter vacation?"

"It was great. I had some great time with my mom." She replied, smiling brightly.

Andrew looked at her hair. It was still arranged in a ponytail. But something was different here. It was something on the left side of her head. It was some kind of hairpin that looked like a blonde haired angel with blue wings.

"Never seen you wear that hairpin before." He stated.

Jenny blinked twice before placing her left hand on it. "Oh, you mean this. Yeah, this was one of the Christmas gifts I got. It actually belonged to my mom."

Andrew nodded understanding. "Your mom, huh? No wonder it looks so good on you." He complimented.

This made Jenny blush slightly for a moment, before giving a smile. "Thank you."

"Hey guys!" Someone called out. They turned to see Jaden, Syrus, Chumley and Michael walk to them.

"Jaden. How are you guys?" Andrew asked. "You weren't all too bored here, were you?"

"Well, let's just say our winter break was in high _spirit._ " He said jokingly.

The other boys groaned.

"Come on, Jaden. I've had enough of spirits for a long time." Syrus complained.

The Ra and Obelisk student blinked.

"Um, what are you guys talking about?" Jenny asked.

"Did something happen here?" Andrew.

The Slifer trio and Obelisk boy looked at each other before turning to their two friends. "Boy have we a story to tell you."

* * *

 **Read them and weep. That's all for now. Until next time. ^-^**


	15. Chapter 15

**The Old Switcheroo**

As we already know, the winter break was officially over. The weather was as sunny and warm as usual and the students and faculty were back in classes. The students listened the lectures very well... with the exception of Jaden, Syrus and Chumley, who were sleeping through the class... as usual. Andrew glanced at them, shaking his head.

 _'Falling asleep in class again. Some things never change.'_ He then started to remember about the story they told him and Jenny. _'I gotta admit though, those crazy adventures are actually more exciting than classes...'_

* * *

 **Flashback**

"Jaden. How are you guys?" Andrew asked. "You weren't all too bored here, were you?"

"Well, let's just say our winter break was in high _spirit._ " Jaden said jokingly.

His two roommates groaned.

"Come on, Jaden. I've had enough of spirits for a long time." Syrus complained.

Andrew and Jenny blinked.

"Um, what are you guys talking about?" Jenny asked.

"Did something happen here?" Andrew added.

The Slifer trio and Michael looked at each other before turning to their two friends. "Boy have we a story to tell you."

* * *

 _A few minutes later_

"No way! So Torrey and his friends brought the spirit of Jinzo to life?" Jenny asked with a shocked tone.

"And you dueled him with your soul at risk?" Andrew asked equally shocked.

"Yup, pretty crazy, right?" Jaden said as he smiled sheepishly.

"More like scary." Chumley muttered under his breath, loud enough for Syrus to hear who agreed.

"It was one heck of an experience, that's for sure." Michael commented.

"Sounds like you guys had a greater adventure than me." Andrew remarked.

"Really? What have you been through?" Syrus asked, making the others look at him with curiosity.

"Well…"

* * *

 _A few more minutes later_

"Wow. So you came across a bully who picked on two kids and took him down in a card shop tournament?" Jaden asked, being amazed by Andrew's story.

"Yeah, that's right." The Ra students replied.

"Sounds like one of your daily good deeds." Jenny said jokingly, making Andrew laugh.

"At least you had to fight a bully instead of a ghost." Syrus said.

"Well, now we can at least chill out here at the academy in peace." Jaden said.

"If you are including studying, then sure." Jenny remarked, making the brown haired hero duelist face fault.

 **Flashback end**

* * *

 _'... But now it's back to same old same old.'_ Andrew thought as he focused on the lectures

* * *

After the classes were over, Andrew and Jenny were walking in the hall, talking to each other.

"We sure have been through so much this year." Andrew said.

"Yeah, no joke." Jenny replied. "I still can't believe Jaden dueled an evil duel spirit."

"I know, right? And to think that Jaden risked his own soul to duel him. It kinda reminds me of that shadow duel against Kang."

Due to hearing Andrew mention that, she couldn't but shudder. "Don't remind me. I still haven't gotten over that."

"Sorry."

"Hey, Andrew!" Someone called out from behind. They turned around to see Shiori approach them.

"Shiori? What brings you here?"

"Well, I wanted to ask you if you want to duel me." He proposed.

Andrew blinked. "I don't really mind dueling you, but why?"

"I want to improve my dueling skills, so I need to test some new cards I added to my deck."

He nodded understanding. "Sounds okay. Alright, I accept your challenge."

Shiori smiled gratefully. "Great. Then I'll meet you at the docks about one hour. See ya." He then walked away.

"Sounds like Shiori got a surprise for you." Jenny remarked. "Nervous?"

"Not really." Andrew shook his head. "It's just some dueling practice. If he's going to test his new cards, I better prepare myself as well." He was about to head to the Ra Yellow dorm, but not before turning to Jenny." Well, I'll see you later." He then walked away.

"Yeah, see ya." She replied as she waved at him.

* * *

Andrew was in his dorm, sitting at his desk and looked over his cards.

"Let's see here…" He muttered to himself. "If I take this trap card from my deck, I should replace it with this spell card. And maybe I can add this monster to my deck." As he rearranged his deck, Phantom Magician appeared from his card.

 _"I can see you're working hard here."_ The skeletal spell caster said.

"Yeah, if Shiori is going to test his improved deck, I need to do my very best against him."

 _"Sounds good. Do you have a place for me in your deck?"_

Th Ra student smiled at him. "Of course. I'll always have a place in my deck for you."

The duel spirit nodded. _"Thank you, Andrew."_

"No problem, partner."

The duel spirit decided to let Andrew arrange his deck in peace and disappeared.

* * *

Andrew sat there for a while, planning a few more strategies before placing the deck in his holder.

"Alright, that should be enough." He concluded. "Now, what time is it?" He took a look at his watch and then...

"…"

"…"

"WHAT!?" Andrew shouted as he jumped off the chair. "Only 5 minutes left before I need to meet up with Shiori! I'm going to be late!" And then he dashed out of his room.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jaden, Syrus and Chumley were walking around on campus. They were just about to reach the Ra Yellow dorm.

"Man there's nothing like sunshine and fresh air. I could just sit down and take a nap." Jaden said.

"But you kinda did that during class, didn't you?" Syrus asked, making Jaden scratch the back of his head while smiling sheepishly.

"But then again, that's what all three of us did." Chumley pointed out.

"True. Hey let's go and see if Andrew wants to hang out with us." The brown-haired Slifer suggested as he walked to the entrance. But before he reached the door, it suddenly slammed opened and Andrew came out running.

"Damn I'm going to be…"

BONK!

He was in such a hurry, he didn't noticed Jaden until he bumped into him, causing both of them falling down to the ground. As a result, both of them dropped their deck holders.

"Ow. Did someone get the number of that truck?" Jaden asked jokingly.

"Ouch. What just happened?" Andrew asked before he raised his head and saw the person in front of him. "Oh, Jaden. Sorry for bumping into you like that."

"Nah, it's cool. Don't worry about it." Jaden assured him. "But, what's the rush?"

Andrew looked at his watch and stood up. "Long story short, I'm going to duel Shiori and I'm going to be late." He said as he quickly stood up and took up one of the deck holders. "So I need to hurry. See ya!" The Slifer trio watched as he ran off.

"So Shiori asked Andrew for a rematch." Syrus realized.

"Yeah, sounds like it." Chumley added.

"That sounds great. Maybe we should check it out." Jaden suggested. Before he got up, he noticed the other deck holder. "Oh my cards." He picked up and was about to attach it to his belt, but saw it was opened, revealing the deck inside. "Huh?"

"What is it Jaden?" Syrus asked.

The hero duelist took out the deck and looked through it and was surprised by the cards he saw. "Hey, that's Lady Heat, Woodsman and Ice Edge. These are Andrew's cards."

"What? But didn't he pick up his deck holder?" Chumley asked.

It was then Syrus widened his eyes. "But if that's his deck, then that would mean…"

"Andrew picked up _my_ deck!" Jaden exclaimed comically and started to run in the same direction as Andrew. "Come on, let's go!"

"Jaden, wait up!" Syrus called out as he and Chumley ran after him.

"Why do we have to run?"

* * *

Andrew was running as fast as he could, until he reached his destination: the docks. While catching his breath, he looked around to see if he could find Shiori. But for some reason, he couldn't find him anywhere.

"Hm? I wonder where Shiori is?" He wondered. He then suddenly heard the sound of running footsteps from a distance. He turned to the direction of the sound and saw Shiori approaching him.

"Hey Andrew. Sorry I'm late. I was working on my deck and lost track of time."

Andrew held up his hand and assured him. "It's okay. I actually did the same thing. So are you ready?"

The ritual duelist smirked as he activated his duel. "I am more than ready. The question is, are _you_ ready?"

Andrew returned the smirk and activated his own duel disk and inserted 'his' deck into it. "Oh, I'm definitely ready. So let's get this started."

Both duelists walked up and took their positions.

"Alright…"

"Let's duel!"

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Shiori: 4000**

Both duelists drew their starting hands.

"Okay, I'll start things off." Shiori announced while drawing his sixth card. "First I summon Armored Zombie in attack mode." A zombie with a puckish green skin, wearing a red wooden samurai armor rose from the ground and held up its sword. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 0 LV: 3) "Then I'll end my turn with a facedown card." The card appeared behind the zombie.

"Then it's my turn. Here goes." Andrew drew his sixth card. _'Now let's see.'_ He thought as he looked at his hand. But then, he noticed a certain card on his far right. _'What the!? What is this!?'_ The card he noticed was none other than… _'Winged Kuriboh?'_ Indeed it was. The very monster card that only Jaden would have. The spirit of that card appeared in front of Andrew.

 _"Coo."_

 _'I don't get it. Why are you here? You are always in Jaden's deck. So why are you in my...'_ He stopped at mid sentence when he suddenly remembered something.

 _'Wait a sec…'_

* * *

 **Flashback**

After he bumped into Jaden, he quickly stood up and picked up one of the deck holders from the ground.

 **Flashback end**

* * *

 _'…Did I_ _accidentally pick up Jaden's deck?'_ He thought disbelieved. As if he heard his question, Winged Kuriboh nodded to him. _'Oh great, and I worked so hard on preparing my own deck for this.'_

While Andrew mentally complained at this, Shiori noticed the troubled expression on his face. _'Andrew doesn't look very_ happy.' He thought. _'I wonder if the starting hand he got is bad?'_

Andrew stood there for a moment, being in deep thought. _'What should I do?'_ He could have told Shiori that he took Jaden's deck by mistake. But then again, the reason Shiori wanted to duel was to test some new cards. So maybe it wouldn't be so much trouble if Andrew used Jaden's deck. It is a deck full of heroes after all, so he might be able to use it almost as well as his own deck. _'I guess it won't hurt.'_ Andrew thought as he made his decision, making Winged Kuriboh nod in approval.

"Okay, I summon Elemental HERO Sparkman in attack mode." The golden armored hero appeared in a flash of electricity. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1400 LV: 4)

* * *

As Andrew summoned the electric hero, Jaden and the others arrived and stopped at a few meters behind him.

"There they are. And it looks like the duel has already begun." Jaden realized.

"So we didn't make it in time." Syrus said.

"Well so much for all that running." Chumley added.

"I guess Andrew is going to use my deck, huh?" The brown-haired Slifer student said.

"Well, never thought we would see you guys here." A female voice spoke up from a distance. The Slifer trio turned to the direction the voice came from and saw Alexis and Jenny approaching them, the former being the one who spoke up.

"Oh, Alexis, Jenny. What are you two here?"

"Well, what do you think?" She asked rhetorically. "We decided to watch the duel."

"Aren't you guys here to watch as well?" Jenny asked.

"Actually, we were hoping stop Andrew before the duel started." Syrus replied.

"What do you mean? Why trying to stop him?"

Jaden gave the girls an embarrassed look. "Well…" And gave them 'his' deck holder.

Jenny, who raised an eyebrow took it and opened it. When she looked at the cards inside of it, she gasped. "Wait, these looks like Andrew's cards. Why do you have them?"

"Andrew was kinda in a hurry and bumped into me. And he um... kinda picked up my deck holder by mistake."

Now it was Alexis' turn to gasp. "So you're saying Andrew is dueling with _your_ deck?"

"As a matter of fact… yeah."

The girls then had their attention on the duel.

"But then, Andrew might have some trouble if he's using someone else's deck." Jenny stated.

Jaden on the other hand shrugged. "Nah, I think he should be fine." Everyone was a little surprised by his statement.

"What do you mean, Jaden?" Chumley asked.

"Well, even though it's my deck, it's at least similar to his own."

Syrus nodded in understanding. "That's true. I mean, both of you uses hero monsters. So it shouldn't be that difficult for Andrew to use your deck."

"That may be." Alexis said. "But that's a deck _you_ created Jaden. So the question is, how will he do with a deck that's not created by him?"

* * *

"Sparkman, attack Armored Zombie with Static Shockwave!" The shot a blast of electricity from his right hand at the samurai-like zombie.

 **Shiori: 4000-3900**

"I place one card facedown and end my turn." A card appeared behind the hero.

"Not bad." Shiori complimented as he drew card. He looked at it and smiled. "But I'm about to do something better. First I activate my trap card…" He pointed at the facedown that revealed itself. "…Birthright. This trap card lets me summon a normal monster from my graveyard. Of course, there's only one monster in there, so…" Armored Zombie jumped out from the trap card and landed on the field. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 0 LV: 3) "And next, I'll play the equip spell Amulet of Ambition and I'll add it to my Armored Zombie." The amulet that appeared around the zombie's neck was golden and shaped like a star. It also had a big eye in the middle. "Now attack his Sparkman!"

Andrew widened his eyes as the zombie ran towards the hero. "But why? Your monster is weaker than Sparkman."

"That's why I equipped him with the Amulet of Ambition. I can only equip it to a normal monster, like Armored Zombie. And if it battles a monster with a higher level, it's attack points are increased by 500 x the difference in levels."

Andrew gasped. "And since Sparkman is a level 4 monster, he is 1 level higher than Armored Zombie."

Shiori nodded while smirking. "And that gives him enough power to take him down." As the zombie got closer, the amulet glowed with a red light, making him stronger. ( **ATK: 1500-2000** ) With a swing of his sword, the zombie defeated Sparkman. Andrew held his left arm in protection due to the explosion the attack caused.

 **Andrew: 4000-3600** ( **ATK: 2000-1500** )

* * *

The spectator cringed.

"Ouch." Jaden commented.

"That wasn't good." Syrus said.

"Not for Andrew that is." Jenny added.

* * *

Andrew recovered and pointed at his own facedown card. "I activate my trap, Hero Signal." A ray of light emerged from the named trap card, shining an 'H' in the sky. "Now I can summon a level 4 or below Elemental HERO from my hand or deck. And I choose, Elemental HERO Clayman." The stone warrior kneeled down in front of Andrew. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4)

"Building up some defense, are we? In that case, I'll build up some defense of my own by summoning Battle Footballer in defense mode." A new monster appeared on the field, kneeling down in front of Shiori. It was a man wearing football paddling and a helmet that hid his face. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 2100** LV: 4) "And with that, I end my turn."

"My move." Andrew drew a card. "I activate Pot of Greed. This spell card lets draw two cards from my deck." He drew two cards and smiled at what he got. _'This should do the trick.'_  
"I summon Elemental Burstinatrix." The red clad female hero appeared from a pillar of fire. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 800 LV: 3) "And now I play a field spell card, Skyscraper." He inserted the spell card into his duel disk, making tall city buildings appear around the duelists and spectator.

* * *

"Sweet! Looks like Andrew is going to kick things up a bit." Jaden said excited.

"Yup, that's exactly what I would have done." Chumley said.

"Well, that wasn't a bad move." Alexis admitted.

* * *

Shiori looked around, apparently surprised by the field spell Andrew just played. _'I knew that Andrew's deck was similar to Jaden's, but I never thought he actually had this card as well.'_

"Now then, due to the effect of my field spell, if the monster my Elemental hero battles with has more attack points, it gains one thousand extra attack points." Shiori gasped at this. "And since Burstinatrix has the same level as your Armored Zombie, Amulet of Ambition won't be triggered. Now Burstintrix, attack his Zombie with Flare Storm!" The female conjured a fireball in her left hand… ( **ATK: 1200-2200** ) …and threw it at the zombie, causing an explosion. Shiori held up his arms in protection.

 **Shiori:** **3900-3200**

"Not bad, Andrew." Shiori complimented as he recovered from the blast.

Andrew smiled. "Thanks, Shiori. I end my turn."

"Back to me then." Shiori declared as he drew a card. "Alright, now I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands." The grayish human-like creature with many hands appeared next to the footballer. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "And as you know, his entrance allows me to use his special ability. Now I can take a ritual monster or spell card from my deck and add it to my hand." He explained as he took out a card from his deck and held it up. "And I think I'll use it right now. I play the spell card Final Ritual of the Ancients. This spell card lets me sacrifice monsters with a total level of 8 or higher, like my two level 4 monsters Battle Footballer and Manju." A large stone slab rose up right behind the two named monsters. It had a monster's carving etched on it. The carving suddenly glowed with an ominous purple aura. The two monsters were then absorbed into it.

"And in there place, I get to summon Reshef the Dark Being." At those words, the carving cracked and then shattered, releasing a blinding veil of light that soon took form. When the shape was decided, the light crumbled away to reveal its physical form. Three orbs stood beside each other, colored blue, yellow and red. Several large pieces of stone hovered around them in the shape of body parts, a pair of arms and a skirt-like pedestal underneath while upper torso, shoulders and head floated above. Together they formed a massive, regally-formed giant. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 1500 LV: 8)

"Oh my god." Andrew commented, being shocked by the monster's size.

* * *

The others watching this were as shocked as him.

"Whoa! That's big." Jaden pointed out.

"Aw man." Syrus gasped.

"Incredible." Jenny said.

* * *

Andrew stood there, staring at the giant monster, feeling intimidated by its size and appearance.

"Well, Andrew? What do you think of my monster?" Shiori asked.

"I gotta admit, it looks very impressive." He commented.

Shiori smirked. "If you think Reshef's appearance is impressive, just wait until I activate his special ability. To use it, I must discard a spell card from my hand." While explaining, he discarded one of the two remaining cards from his hand. And then, the three light orbs in front of the stone giant started to unleash light waves over the field.

Andrew then noticed something strange with Burstinatrix. She slumped her shoulders and seemed to have an empty look on her face. But what happend next made Andrew shocked; Burstinatrix flew up in the air and landed right in front of Reshef.

"What's going on!?"

"In exchange for a spell card, I can take control of one of your monsters once per turn."

"Okay, that's even more impressive."

"And I'm not done yet. I activate my Card of Demise, which means I get to draw until I have 5 cards in my hand." Shiori drew five new cards and saw what he got. "Well well. Looks like I get to summon another Ritual monster." He inserted one of the cards he drew into his duel disk, making a certain spell card appear on the field. "I activate the spell card Emblem of the Awakening."

Andrew narrowed his eyes. "So you're going to summon Cú Chulainn the Awakened."

"That's right, all I have to do is sacrifice monsters with a total level of 4 or higher. From starters, I sacrifice your Burstinatrix." The familiar multicolored emblem appeared above her. "And I also sacrifice my level 1 monster Djinn Disserere of Rituals." Another monster appeared next to Burstinatrix. It was a chubby fiend with dark purple skin, wearing a blue helmet with golden lining. It was also holding a big shield that had a skull-like emblem on it. The skull had a red jewel on its forehead. (ATK: 200 DEF: 200 **LV: 1** ) The two monster were absorbed into the multicolored emblem. "Now come forth, Cú Chulainn the Awakened!" The emblem glowed brightly for a moment and was now around the neck of the heavy-armored, spear wielding warrior. ( **ATK: 500** DEF: 1000 LV: 4)

* * *

"500 attack points?" Chumley wondered.

"I don't get this at all." Syrus said.

"But based on Andrew's reaction, that monster must be more dangerous than it looks like." Jenny replied.

* * *

"Now I activate his special ability. Once per turn, I can take a normal monster from my graveyard and remove it from play. After that, Cú Chulainn absorbs all of that monster's attack points. I remove Armored Zombie." The moment Shiori took the named card from his graveyard, the spirit of the zombie monster appeared. It was then absorbed into Cú Chulainn's emblem, giving him extra power. ( **ATK: 500-2000** )

 _'This is not good.'_ Andrew thought.

"And next, I'll activate the spell card known as Ritual Weapon." A golden crossbow appeared on Cú Chulainn's right arm. "This card can only be equipped to a level 6 or below ritual monster. It gives that monster 1500 attack and defense points." ( **ATK: 2000-3500** DEF: 1000-1500)

"Whoa!" Andrew gasped.

* * *

"What!? 3500 attack points!?" Syrus exclaimed.

"That's incredible." Jenny said.

"No wonder why Andrew had trouble of defeating him last time. What a sweet move." Jaden said, being obviously amazed by this.

* * *

"Now it's time for some action. Reshef the Dark Being, attack his Clayman with Ancient Blast!" The stone giant merged its three light orbs together to create a big orb of golden light. And then, the orb fired a powerful beam which destroyed the stone hero. "Now Cú Chulainn, attack him directly!" The armored warrior held up his right arm and shot Andrew with the crossbow. He was struck by an arrow made of light energy and fell onto the ground.

 **Andrew: 3600-0100**

Andrew stood up and brushed off some dust. "Well done. Looks like your cards are working good so far." He complimented.

"Thanks. And I plan to bust out some more. I end my turn." Shiori said before he frowned. _'But still, something's not right here. The way Andrew is playing right now is not he usually play. Sure, he may still have used his Elemental heroes so for, but it feels like he's using a different dueling style or something.'_

"I draw." Andrew drew a card and looked at his hand. _'Okay, this might be tough, but I can still turn this around. Alright then...'_  
"First I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode." The furry duel spirit with white wings appeared on the field. (ATK: 300 **DEF: 200** LV: 1)

 _'Now he summon Winged Kuriboh?'_ Shiori wondered.

"Then I activate the spell card Mirage of Nightmare." The continuous spell card appeared in front of him. "Then I'll end my turn with two facedown cards." The cards appeared right next to it.

"My turn then." Shiori declared as he drew a card. ( **ATK: 3500-2000** )

"And now the effect of my Mirage card is activated. During your standby phase, I get to draw until I have four cards in my hand." Since Andrew had one card in his hand, he drew three. "And with that done, I reveal one of my facedown cards, Emergency Provisions." The named spell card flipped up. "By sending a number of spell or trap cards from my field to the graveyard, I gain a thousand life points for every card I get rid of. I send both my facedown card and Mirage of Nightmare." The two cards disappeared and Andrew was surrounded by a healing aura.

 **Andrew: 0100-2100**

"Not bad. You're going to need those points." Shiori said as he looked at his hand and almost frowned that he didn't have any spell card in his hand. "Especially after I take down your Kuriboh. Cú Chulainn, attack!" The warrior dashed towards the furry creature and stabbed him with his spear.

"Since Winged Kuriboh was destroyed, all battle damage I would take this turn become zero." Andrew said.

"Very well." Shiori replied. "To make sure you won't destroy Cú Chualinn, I'll use his special ability again. So I remove Battle Footballer from play and add his attack points to him." The spirit of the footballer appeared and was then absorbed into Cú Chulainn's emblem. ( **ATK: 2000-3000** ) "I end my turn.

* * *

"Wait. Couldn't he just use Reshef's ability to take control of Winged Kuriboh so he could attack Andrew directly?" Syrus asked.

"In order to use Reshef's ability, Shiori need to discard a spell card from his hand." Alexis reminded him.

"Then I guess Shiori doesn't have any in his hand." Jaden said.

* * *

"Then here goes. I activate the spell card Dark Factory of Mass Production. This let's me take two normal monsters from my graveyard and add them to my hand. I choose Burstinatrix and Sparkman." Andrew took the named cards from his graveyard slot and placed them into his hand. "Then I activate the spell card Polymerization. And I'll use it to fuse Elemental HERO Avian and Burstinatrix to create…" The two heroes flew into a fusion vortex and reappeared in the form of… "Elemental Flame Wingman!" ( **ATK: 2100** DEF: 1200 LV: 6)

Shiori raised an eyebrow. _'Strange. I actually thought he was going to summon his Nova Master.'_

"Since I still have Skyscraper in play, my Flame Wingman gets 1000 attack points in battle." ( **ATK: 2100-3100** )

"3100 points!" Shiori said in realization.

"Just enough to take down any of your ritual monsters, and I think I'll start with Reshef the Dark Being. Attack, Skydive Scorcher!" The fusion summoned hero leapt into the air and dove towards the stone giant, with his body being covered in flames. As soon as he slammed into it, the stone giant cracked and fell to pieces.

 **Shiori: 3200-2600**

"And thhere's more than that. Flame Wingman has a special ability. Since he destroyed your monster in battle, you take damage equal to its attack points." Shiori gasped as the hero landed right in front of him. He held up his dragon arm and blasted him with flames.

 **"Shiori: 2600-0100**

* * *

"Sweet! Andrew took the lead." Jaden cheered.

"Never thought Andrew would play Jaden's cards so well." Alexis said.

"Let's see what else he can do." Jenny added.

* * *

"I summon Sparkman in defense mode." The electric hero appeared once again. (ATK: 1600 **DEF: 1400** LV: 4) "Then I'll end my turn with a facedown card."

"Then it's my move." Shiori declared and drew a card. ( **ATK: 3000-2000** ) He smiled when saw what he got. "I activate the spell card Trade-In."

Andrew blinked. "What does that do?"

"This lets me discard a level 8 monster, like my Tri-Horned Dragon." He slid the named card into his graveyard slot. "After that, I get to draw two cards from my deck." He drew his two cards and looked at them. _'This could be useful, but first things first.'_  
"And with another normal monster in my graveyard, I can use Cú Chulainn's ability again. So now I remove my Tri-Horned Dragon." The spirit of the giant blue dragon was absorbed into the warrior's emblem. ( **ATK: 2000-4850** )

Andrew grimaced. _'Ooh. With that many attack points, Shiori's monster can defeat Flame Wingman with ease, even with Skyscraper on the field.'_ Hen then glanced at his facedown card. _'But at least I'm prepared.'_

"Now Cú Chulainn, destroy his Flame Wingman!" The armored warrior dashed at the winged hero.

"I activate my trap card." Andrew's facedown card revealed itself. "Mirror Force. So now your monster is destroyed."

"Not exactly." Shiori replied as he smirked. Andrew was confused by that statement. The trap card created a glass-like wall that appeared right in front of Flame Wingman. But then, for some reason, Cú Chulainn wasn't destroyed by it. In fact, it was the other way around. With stab from his spear, the wall was destroyed by him. Andrew had only enough time to gasp before his fusion monster was stabbed by the ritual monster.

 **Andrew: 2100-0350**

"What just happened? Why wasn't Cú Chulainn destroyed?"

"It's because of Djinn Disserere of Rituals."

"Huh?"

"You see, Djinn Disserere has a unique ability. If he was used for a ritual summoning, the monster that was ritual summoned becomes immune to all trap cards."

"No way!"

"I'm afraid it's true. And with that done, I activate the spell card Double Spell. By discarding a spell card from my hand, I can use a spell card from your graveyard." As soon as Shiori discarded one of his cards, one of Andrew's cards came out from the graveyard slot and appeared on Shiori's side of the field. "And I choose this one, Emergency Provisions. So I send my spell card Ritual Weapon to give myself 1000 life points." The crossbow on Cú Chulainn's arm disappeared. ( **ATK: 4850-3350** )

 **Shiori: 0100-1100**

* * *

"Now Shiori took the lead." Syrus stated.

"Yeah. This duel is getting better for every turn." Jaden replied.

"And even more intense as well." Jenny added.

* * *

"I end my turn." Shiori said.

"Okay then." Andrew drew a card and looked at it. _'I guess this could help.'  
_ "I summon Wroughtweiler in defense mode." The mechanical dog appeared next to Sparkman. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 1200** LV: 3) And that's all for now."

"Then here goes." Shiori drew card. ( **ATK: 3350-500** ) He looked at it and smirked. "Looks your in big trouble now, because now I summon Sonic Bird." The bald eagle with the jetpack flew down from the sky and landed on the ground. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "Now with him summoned, I take a ritual spell card from my deck and add it to my hand. I choose this one; End of the World." He held up the named spell card.

* * *

"End of the World? That sounds scary." Chumley commented.

"It _is_ scary as well." Alexis replied. "Because that ritual spell card is much different from any other. Because unlike a spell card that can summon one kind of ritual monster, End of the World has the power to summon one of two special ritual monsters."

"Two monsters?" Syrus asked disbelieved.

"Wow, really?" Jaden asked. The blonde-haired Obelisk girl nodded. "Then let's see which one of those special monsters Shiori will bust out."

* * *

"In order to summon my ritual monster, I must sacrifice monsters with a total level of 8 or higher. So I sacrifice Sonic Bird and Cú Chulainn." Dark clouds materialized right above them. And then, they were struck by a lightning. "Now I summon Ruin, Queen of Oblivion!" In there place an new figure rose on the field. It was a woman with long white hair. She was wearing a red, white and black dress and wielded a red scepter. ( **ATK: 2300** DEF: 2000 LV: 8)

"Another ritual monster." Andrew pointed out.

"Yup, and just see her power in action. Now Ruin, attack his Sparkman with Blast of Oblivion!" The woman hurled a ball of blue energy from the tip of her scepter at the electric hero.

"That was pretty good." Andrew complimented.

"Shiori chuckled. "Trust me, Andrew. This is just the beginning of Ruin's assault. You see, she has a special ability. If she successfully destroys a monster in battle, she can attack a second time."

"What!?"

"Which means your Wroughtweiler is next." She destroyed the mechanical dog with another blast from her scepter.

"Okay, I'll take it back. _That one_ was pretty good. But at least I get something in return. When Wroughtweiler is destroyed in battle, I'm allowed to take a Polymerization and an Elemental HERO from my graveyard." Andrew took out the spell card and Clayman from his graveyard and placed them in his hand."

"Luckily for you, I can't do anything more. So I'll end my turn.

* * *

"This is it. This is the last chance for Andrew to turn this around." Jenny said.

"But can he do it?" Syrus asked.

"Of course he can." Jaden replied. "A duel is not over until the last card is played. He just need the right one to win this."

* * *

Andrew at his duel disk. _'Well, I can't say I didn't enjoy this duel. Even though this is just practice for Shiori, it has been excited. Since he used his new cards pretty up to this point, I could forfeit this match now. But practice or not, a duelist should always see the match to its conclusion. So let's see who's going out as the winner.'_ Andrew drew a card and was surprised to see what he got. He then gave his opponent a smile. "Well Shiori, it looks like this duel is close to end."

The blonde Ra student widened his eyes. _'Sounds like Andrew is about to play something big.'_

"First I activate the spell card The Warrior Returning Alive. This lets me take back a warrior type monster from my graveyard and add it to my hand. So I'll take back my Sparkman. And next I'll play the spell card Polymerization and use it to fuse him with Clayman." The two named heroes were absorbed into a fusion vortex.

* * *

"Sweetness. Looks like Andrew is going to end this with a bang." Jaden said.

"Lishus."

"Awesome! Way to play Andrew!" Syrus cheered.

* * *

"I summon Elemental HERO Thunder Giant!" The yellow, giant electric hero jumped out of the vortex and landed on the ground. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 1500 LV: 6)

"Uh oh. That monster is stronger than Ruin." Shiori said.

"Yeah, he is. But not just by points, he also has a special ability. He can destroy a monster whose original attack points are less than his own."

The ritual duelist gasped. "But then, that means…"

"Your Queen of Oblivion is out of the game." The big fusion monster pointed his finger at the woman and vaporized her with a blast of electricity. "And leaves you wide open for a direct attack. Go, Voltic Thunder!" Thunder Giant gathered electricity in his hands and release it all at Shiori, making the latter cry out and fall onto the ground.

 **Shiori: 1100-0000**

After the holograms disappeared, Andrew walked over to Shiori and held out his hand. "Do you need help."

Shiori looked up and smiled while giving him a nod. "Yeah, thank you." He took Andrew's hand, allowing the latter to help him up. "That was a great duel. You really pulled it off, even with the improvements of my deck."

"Well, it wasn't easy. But it was great."

"But, I'm curious about something. The cards you played, they were quite different from the ones you usually use. For example, you summoned WInged Kuriboh earlier. I knew that your deck was similar to Jaden's, but I never thought you would have that monster as well."

Andrew blinked before he scratched the back of his head, giving him an embarrassed look. "Um, yeah, about that. You see…"

"Hey guys!" Someone called out, interrupting them. They turned to see group who watched the duel approach them. "That was a nice duel." Jenny said.

"Yeah, you two dueled great." Alexis added.

"Totally." Jaden said before he took up 'his deck holder. "Oh and here is your deck Andrew." He gave it to the ladder.

"Thanks." Andrew said he took it. "And I believe this one is yours." He said he gave the brown haired Slifer the deck he had.

Shiori blinked in confusion. "Huh? What's this about?"

The two hero duelists looked at each other before they looked him, smiling sheepishly.

"Well, the thing is…" Jaden started as he explained the situation.

* * *

"So you two bumped into each other and dropped your decks, and Andrew picked up your deck by mistake?"

"Yup, that's what happened." Jaden replied.

Shiori couldn't help but laugh. "Well, I thought something was off during the duel."

"At least everything is solved." Jenny said.

"Yeah, but you two should do something to make sure that won't happen again." Alexis suggested.

"Like what?" Jaden asked.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe write your names on your deck cases or something?" Syrus said.

"Sounds good to me." Andrew replied. "Does anyone have a pen or something?"

"I think I do." Jenny said she reached into her pocket and grabbed a marker pen. "Here." She passed it to him.

"Thanks."

It the two boys a moment to write their names.

"And done." Jaden declared. "Now that that's over, how about you duel me, Shiori?" He asked the ritual duelist.

"What?"

"That duel made me excited, so let's throw down!"

The blonde-haired boy held up his hand. "Sorry Jaden. Not today. I need some rest."

"Oh come on, please. Just one duel." The slifer hero pleaded as he got close to Shiori's face.

"I said no!" He said tried to shove Jaden off.

As the two of them bickered, the others sweat dropped at this.

"I know Jaden love dueling, but this is just childish." Andrew commented.

"Well, that's just how he is." Syrus added.

"Can't wait for even one day to duel someone." Alexis.

The group watched as Jaden and Shiori continued with their bickering.

* * *

 **Alrighty then. That should be enough for now. And my next chapter will most likely be finished some day after Christmas eve and maybe even Christmas day. So until next time, I wish you all a merry Christmas.**


	16. Chapter 16

**The Flip Out**

It was a peaceful evening at Duel Academy and everyone were relaxing in their dorm rooms after having dinner. There was a Slifer student in particular who was in his dorm room, completely alone. It was almost dark in his dorm room. The only light source was a small lamp on the desk. The Slifer boy had short, purple hair, only lighter than Michael. His eyes were brown. He was also wearing a black headband. The boy was sitting at desk and went through his deck.

"Well then, let's see what we get." He said as he placed his deck and flipped up a card. It was a monster card with the picture of a green snake appearing from a blue jar.

He nodded before he placed the card on the desk and flipped up the next card. It was another monster card. This one had the picture of a reaper-like creature. Its eyes and mouth were glowing while the rest of its face was hidden within its hood. It was wielding a scythe in it hands and was wearing a necklace with duel monsters cards around its neck.

The boy took another card from his deck and it was yet another monster card. This one had the picture of an old mask with a red X-shaped scar on it.

"Yes, this should be good. I'm definitely ready to take on the challenge." The boy stood up and put his deck into the deck holder. "Andrew Wilson, I'm coming for you.

* * *

The next day, the students were either walking around campus, chatting or just relaxing. That's not surprising, considering it was weekend now. Speaking of relaxing, Andrew was laying on the ground, under a tree near the beach.

"Well, another exercise done. And the best part of exercising is when you get to relax afterwards." He muttered. He let out a sigh as he closed his eyes. It didn't take long before he fell asleep. And then, someone passed by and noticed Andrew. It was Jenny who walked up to the sleeping Ra student.

"Hey Andrew." She greeted. But there was no reply from him. Just some snoring. Jenny couldn't help but giggle. "He's actually cute when he's asleep." She said.

It was then a thought crossed her mind, making her blush a little. She looked around to see if anyone was watching. Seeing no one around here, she kneeled down in front of Andrew and began to leaning towards him. She was close to give him a peck on his cheek, but gasped when she noticed his eyes slowly opened. She jumped away while panicking a bit as he woke up.

Andrew rubbed his eyes for a bit and turned to see Jenny sitting right next to him. "Oh, hey Jenny. Why are you here?"

The blue-haired girl calmed down a bit before she answered. "I... just saw you sleeping here all alone and thought I could give you some company." She replied with an almost nervous tone.

The hero duelist smiled. "Well, that's kind of you."

"No problem." She said, returning the smile. But in her mind, she cursed herself. _'What in the dueling world was I thinking!? Did I actually try to kiss him on his cheek while he was sleeping!?'_

Andrew was now sitting on the ground, leaning against the tree. "I was just relaxing for a bit. After going through an exercise, it's nice to rest a bit."

Jenny nodded. "Yeah, I can tell. Even though I don't do it as much as you, I exercise sometimes myself."

"Is that so? Then maybe we could train together someday." Andrew suggested.

"Of course. That would be nice." She replied cheerfully.

"Great." He said before watching the sea.

Jenny decided to enjoy the view with him for a while. They both stared at sea silently, enjoying the salty breeze.

* * *

Meanwhile, a certain someone was walking around somewhere else on the campus. It was the Slifer boy who went over his deck last night. If anyone could see his height, they would see that he was taller than Syrus, but still shorter than his other friends.

"Now, if I were Andrew Wilson, where would I be?" He mused.

As he looked around, he went into the forest. He walked through there until he came to a clearing. And just as he entered there...

"Well well well. Look at here boys. A lost Slifer slacker." He turned around to see three Obelisk boys grinning down at him. The one up front had messy brown hair. The ones behind had short, black hair and spiky red hair.

"Looking for someone, little man?" The black-haired one spoke.

"As a matter of fact I do. Have you guys possibly seen a Ra Yellow student named Andrew Wilson around here?" The Slifer boy asked.

That question made the Obelisk trio widen their eyes. Those who were standing behind the brown-haired one whispered to each other. "Andrew Wilson. Isn't that the guy with a deck full of those Masked heroes?" The black-haired one asked.

"It is. I've heard he defeated Michael Kageyama after surviving three whole turns of his virus combo." The red-haired one replied.

The brown-haired one raised an eyebrow. "And what if we did?"

The Slifer boy shrugged. "No reason, really. I just want to challenge him to a duel. I want to see how I stacked up against him. He is an impressive duelist"

The Obelisk trio glanced at each other, before letting out a laughter. Once they stopped laughing, they sneered at him. "Ha, what could a puny Slifer like you do? And what's so good about that Wilson guy. Sure, he may have some skills, but he's just lucky. He would never stand a chance against us. And neither would you." The brown-haired one taunted.

The Slifer boy gave them a sly smile. "Oh, is that so? Then I suppose there won't be a problem for you guys to take me on, right here, right now."

"You're not worth our time, Slifer Sludge." The black-haired one spat.

"Oh? Is it possible that you guys are scared?"

This earned him a glare from each of the Obelisk boys. The red-haired one spoke up. "Scared of you? Yeah, right. We met 5-years old who are tougher than you."

"Then prove it. I double dare ya."

The obelisk boys took up their duel disks from nowhere and activated them. "Bring it on, you twerp." The black-haired one challenged.

The Slifer boy smirked and activated his own duel disk. "With pleasure…"

* * *

Sometime later, Jaden, Syrus and Chumley were walking out from the Slifer Red dorm.

"Alright. Weekend. The best time of the week." Jaden said. "Time to find a place and chill out a bit."

"Maybe we can go to the card shop." Syrus suggested.

"Yeah, maybe we can get some new cards." Chumley added.

"That's cool." The brown-haired Slifer replied.

But before they could go any further, the sound of some kind of explosion was heard from somewhere in the forest.

Did you guys hear that?" Jaden asked.

"Yeah, it came from the forest." Syrus said.

"What was that?" Chumley wondered.

"Only one way to find out." With that said, Jaden ran off.

"Wait, Jaden!" Syrus called out as he and Chumley followed him.

"Aw, not running."

* * *

The Slifer trio weren't the only ones who heard the sound. Andrew and Jenny stood up and turned to the direction the sound came from.

"What was that sound?" Jenny asked.

"I don't know. But let's find out." Andrew replied as he and the Obelisk girl ran to the direction of the sound.

* * *

The Slifer trio kept running through the forest, intending to find the source the explosion-like sound. Eventually, they came to a clearing.

"Now where was it?" Jaden asked as he looked around.

"Jaden, over there." Syrus said. The brown-haired Slifer, along with Chumley in direction he was pointing at. What they saw was another Slifer student dueling an Obelisk blue student. They noticed two other Obelisk students, only they were laying on the ground with swirling eyes.

"A duel?" Chumley asked.

"Yeah, it looks that way." Jaden replied. "And it looks like that guy with the headband is kicking butt.

The Slifer boy dueling had a certain reaper monster on his field. As for his opponent, the Obelisk boy stood there nervously since he didn't have anything on his side of the field.

"What's going on here?" Someone asked. The Slifer trio turned to see Andrew and Jenny approach them.

"Hey guys." Jaden greeted. "What's up?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Andrew replied.

"Do you know what's going?" Jenny asked.

"Well, apparently, those Obelisks over there are about to get beaten by that guy over there."

Andrew and Jenny looked at the Slifer student Jaden was referring to.

"Who is he?" Andrew asked.

"I think his name is... Matt or something." Syrus asked, trying to remember.

"Matt Collins." Someone said. The group turned around and saw Bastion walking to them.

"Hey Bastion." Andrew greeted. "Did you hear the sound from here as well?"

"Naturally. Something like this is hardly difficult to miss. Now, as I was saying, that Slifer over there is Matt Collins. He's a duelist who specializes in flip effects."

"Flip effects?" Jaden repeated.

"Yes. His deck is built up with flip effect monsters. Any duelist may have one or two flip effect monsters in their deck, but Matt's deck is filled with a big number of them."

"Wow. That's amazing." Syrus said with an impressed tone.

"From what I've heard, Matt's test results from the entrance exams were high enough for him to become a Ra Yellow student."

The group gasped in surprise. "What? Then why is he a Slifer student?" Chumley asked.

Bastion shrugged. "I think he most likely wanted to start at the bottom and work his way up."

Jaden was the only one who nodded. "That's cool." He turned back to the duel. "Now let's what he got."

 **Obelisk student: 1200**

 **Matt: 1600**

"My move." Matt declared as he drew a card. "Now, Reaper of the Cards, attack him directly!" The reaper raised its scythe… ( **ATK: 1380** DEF: 1930 LV: 5) and slashed the Obelisk student, forcing him down to his knees.

 **Obelisk student: 1200-0000**

"I guess that's a wrap." Matt said as the hologram disappeared.

The obelisk boy growled. "Why you…"

"Now if you excuse me, I have a worthy opponent to find…"

"Not so fast you squirt!" The Obelisk boy stomped angrily over to Matt and grabbed him by the collar. "Listen, you punk. No one humiliates me and gets away with it."

Matt struggled to get loose. "You're... such a... sore loser."

The bully was now glaring at him harder. "You little…"

"Hey!" He turned to see who called him out. He noticed the group watching this, with Jenny being the one who called him out. "Let go of him now." She demanded.

"Why should I do that? He's a Slifer."

"Unless you want us to tell Chancellor Sheppard, you better let go of him, now!" Andrew warned.

Everything went silent for a good 10 seconds. Once the invincible clock reached the tenth second, the Obelisk boy gave them a 'tch' before putting Matt down. He walked up to his two fallen comrades. "Come on, let's go."

The two remaining Obelisk boys got up and followed their leader, walking out of the clearing. The group approached the purple-haired Slifer.

"Are you okay?" Syrus asked.

Matt brushed off some dust. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks."

"I hope those guys didn't cause you much trouble." Jenny said.

The purple-haired Slifer shrugged. "Nah, it's alright. Those guys were actually easy pickings."

"Well I can imagine that based on what we just witnessed." Bastion replied.

"So what are you doing out here anyway?" Chumley asked.

"I was actually trying to find a certain someone and challenge him to a duel. But it seems like that someone found me."

"Really? Then who is it?" Jaden asked.

Matt held up one finger. "The one I want to challenge... is him." He pointed at Andrew.

"Huh? Me?"

"Yeah, that's right. I've seen some of your duels. The one against that Michael guy, the one during the promotion exams. The one against her was especially impressive." Matt said as he was referring to Jenny.

"Oh, so you saw that duel, huh?" She asked.

Matt nodded.

* * *

 **Flashback**

Matt was walking around on the beach, enjoying the weather. And then...

"Duel!"

He looked in the direction of the two voices saying that. And from a distance, he saw Andrew and Jenny getting ready to duel, while Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Alexis, Jasmine and Mindy were watching.

 _"I was taking a walk and happened to pass_ by."

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"So yeah, that's why I want to duel Andrew. So how about it? Will you duel me?" He asked hopefully.

Andrew stood there while thinking. A duel against someone who specializes in flip effects could be interesting. Eventually, he smiled and nodded. "Okay. I accept the challenge."

That answer earned him a grin from Matt. "Great. Let's do this."

The two duelists walked to the middle of the clearing and stood on each side, facing each other.

"Good luck guys!" Jaden called out.

"Show him what you got, Andrew!" Jenny cheered.

The duelists activated their duel disks.

"Are you ready?" Andrew asked.

"I'm as ready as you are." Matt replied.

"In that case…"

"DUEL!"

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Matt. 4000**

"If you don't mind, I'll start." Matt said as he drew a sixth card. "First I place a facedown monster in defense mode." A facedown card in a sideway position appeared in front of him. "Then I'll play another card facedown and end my turn." A second facedown card appeared behind the first one.

"A facedown monster." Syrus said. "What are the odds that it's not a flip effect monster?"

"Eh, whatever it is, it's nothing Andrew can't handle." Jaden replied.

"My turn then." Andrew drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Ice Edge in attack mode." The icy armored kid landed on the ground. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 900 LV: 3) "And now I activate his special ability. Once per turn, I can discard one card from my hand so he can attack you directly."

"What?" Matt asked, being surprised by this.

Andrew discarded a card before he gave his monster the command. "Now Ice Edge, attack with Subzero Punch!" The kid charged forward with his right fist pulled back and surrounded by ice-cold air, then punched Matt hard enough to knock him down.

 **Matt: 4000-3200**

"Lishus! Andrew gave him the first blow."

"Indeed." Bastion agreed. "Not only did he cause damage, but he also did that without flipping up Matt's facedown monster."

"And since Ice Edge caused some battle damage by attacking you directly, his special ability activates. I'm allowed to destroy 1 facedown spell or trap card on your field." As soon as Andrew explained this, the icy kid smashed the facedown card into pixels. After that, he returned to Andrew's field.

Matt however wasn't bothered at all. In fact, he seemed to be pleased by this. "Sorry, but you triggered my trap card."

Andrew blinked. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean that you triggered it by destroying it." It was then the pixels of the destroyed card merged together and formed a face up trap card. "It's called Drowsing Point. And if this card is destroyed, I'm allowed to take a monster from my deck and add it to my hand." Matt explained as he went through his deck until he took the card he was looking for.

"Didn't see that coming. I end my turn with a facedown card." A card appeared behind Ice Edge.

"Back to me." Matt announced while drawing a card. "I'll start by placing the monster card I got earlier facedown." Another facedown monster appeared right next to the first one.

The group watching this became confused by what he said.

"The card he added to his hand? Isn't that too much information?" Jaden asked.

"Something's not right about this." Jenny added.

"Let me make things clear to you, by playing this." A spell card appeared right in front of Matt. " It's called Book of Taiyou. With this spell card, I can flip a facedown monster on the field into attack mode. And I choose the one I just played." The monster card flipped face up, and out of it, came a strange-looking worm. It had brown skin, two tentacles for arms and two thin legs. It's face had two eyes shaped like vertical slits. ( **ATK: 300** DEF: 200 LV:)

"All of this just to summon that thing?" Syrus asked while staring the strange creature weirdly.

"Don't be fooled." Bastion said. "That creature is not completely harmless."

"He's right, because this is Worm Apocalypse, a monster with a handy flip effect. One spell or trap card on the field is automatically destroyed. So now it's time I destroy your facedown card." The worm raised one of its arms and whipped Andrew's facedown card, causing it to shatter into pixels.

"That's not good." Andrew grunted.

"It's about to get worse, because now I reveal my other facedown monster, Slate Warrior." The monster card flipped face up to reveal a blue-skinned fiend wearing some kind of golden armor with green sleeves and red pants. ( **ATK: 1900** DEF: 400 LV: 4) "And just like Worm Apocalypse, Slate Warrior has a flip effect. That flip effect being his attack and defense points are increased by 500." The fiend was surrounded by a blue, strengthening aura. ( **ATK: 1900-2400** DEF: 400-900)

The spectators gasped.

"Wow. That's a lot of points for a level 4 monster." Jaden commented.

"And that's not good for Andrew." Syrus added.

"Now Slate Warrior, attack his Ice Edge!" The fiend dashed towards the little hero and punched him.

 **Andrew: 4000-2400**

"Now, attack him directly Apocalypse!" The worm used its arm again and struck Andrew with it.

 **Andrew: 2400-2100**

"I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn." Andrew drew a card.

"I activate my trap..." Matt interrupted as he revealed his facedown card. "Pixie Ring! As long as at least two of my monsters are in attack mode, you're not allowed to attack the one with the lowest attack strength."

"But that means he can only attack his Slate Warrior." Chumley realized. "And that monster's got 2400 attack points."

"True, but Andrew have been through worse." Jenny replied. "I'm sure he can handle this."

"Not bad, but I got something to take down your Slate Warrior." Andrew said as he inserted a card into his duel disk, making a spell card appear. "I activate the spell card Monster Reborn. Now I can summon a monster from my graveyard, and the one I summon is the card I discarded for Ice Edge's effect." The graveyard slot glowed brightly. "Now come forth, Elemental HERO Bladedge!" Once the light died down, the golden armored hero appeared and landed on the ground. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 1800 LV: 7)

"Wow, Bladedge!" Jaden said amazed. "I actually wondered if Andrew had that card in his deck."

"Then I summon Elemental HERO Ocean." The aquatic hero appeared next to the golden armored warrior. **(ATK: 1500** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Now Bladedge, attack his Slate Warrior with Slice and Dice Attack!" The hero dashed towards the fiend and sliced across the fiend's chest and shattered it into pixels.

 **Matt: 3200-3000**

"Alright! He took down Slate Warrior!" Syrus cheered.

"Lishus!" Chumley cheered.

"Wait, something is happening." Jenny said as she noticed something.

Everyone looked and saw the spirit of Slate Warrior rising up from the ground. And then, it flew forward, passing through Bladedge. The hero then suddenly fell to knees and groaned. ( **ATK: 2600-2100** DEF: 1800-1300)

"What? What happened to Bladedge?" Andrew asked with a shocked tone.

"This is the second effect of Slate Warrior." Matt replied. "When he's destroyed in battle, the monster responsible for his destruction loses 500 attack and defense points."

"Looks like it's just as I thought." Bastion said. "Matt expected Andrew to summon a powerful monster and go after Slate Warrior."

"Eh, Bladedge has 2100 attack points, so it's not that bad." Jaden replied.

"Now Ocean, attack his Worm Apocalypse!" The water hero stabbed the worm with his trident.

 **Matt: 3000-1800**

"With that, I'll end my turn.

"Okay, here goes." Matt drew a card and smiled when he saw what he got. "Perfect. Now I activate the spell card Burden of the Mighty." The spell card appeared on the field. "With this card in play, each one of your monsters loses attack points equal to its own level multiplied by 100. Since your Bladedge is a level 7 monster, he loses 700 points. And your Ocean loses 400 points since he's a level 4 monster." The two heroes got weakened by a dark aura surrounding them. ( **ATK: 2100-1400** ) ( **ATK: 1500-1100** ) "Then I play a facedown monster in defense mode and end my turn.

"My move." Andrew announced and drew a card. "First I activate my Ocean's special ability. During my standby phase, I can choose a hero on my field or in my graveyard and return it to my hand, so I'll take back Ice Edge from my graveyard. Then I summon Elemental HERO Heat in attack mode." The red and white armored fire hero appeared next to Ocean. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "This monster gains 200 attack points for every Elemental HERO I have on the field, including himself." ( **ATK: 1600-2200** )

"Impressive, but I still have my Burden of the Mighty card on the field, so your monster loses 400 of them." The hero was surrounded by the same dark aura as the other two. ( **ATK: 2200-1800** )

"That's fine, he's still got a lot of points. Now to try my luck with your facedown monster. Bladedge, attack!" The golden dashed towards his target, intending to cut it in half. When he got close enough, the card flipped face up and revealed a monster with a mysterious appearance. The creature had a golden eye for a head, long purple arms, and a bottom half that ended in a sharp point. (ATK: 0 **DEF: 1400** LV: 2)

"A monster with 1400 defense points?" Syrus asked. "That's the same as Bladedge's attack points."

"Which means he won't be able to destroy that creature." Bastion added.

And true to their words, the mysterious monster used it's eyeball to create a force field that caused the hero to jump back to Andrew's field.

"Okay, that didn't do well." Andrew commented. "Then I just have to attack with my Heat."

"If you can that is." Matt replied, confusing the Ra Yellow student.

It was then something strange happened. A glowing symbol that looked similar to the new monster's eyeball-like head appeared on the fire hero's chest, and as a result, he was frozen in place.

"What's going on?" Andrew asked.

"Oh, this is the flip effect of my Dark Eyes Illusionist. I get to choose a monster on your field, and as long as he remains on the field, that monster can't attack."

"What? So he can't attack with Heat?" Chumley asked.

"It appears so." Jenny said.

"I gotta admit, that is quite impressive." Andrew complimented.

"Thank you." Matt replied smiling.

"Since my Ocean is too weak to take down your Dark Eyes Illusionist, I'll just end my turn."

"Fine by me." Matt drew a card and looked at his hand. _'Perfect.'_  
"I play a facedown monster in defense mode and place another card facedown." Two facedown cards appeared on the field. "Now it's your turn."

"My turn." Andrew drew card...

"Stop right there! I activate the trap card, A Feint Plan." Matt's facedown card revealed itself.

"That one, huh?" Andrew said, almost grimacing.

"Thanks to this card, you can't attack my facedown monster."

"Okay, I'll just summon Elemental HERO Woodsman in defense mode." The wooden hero rose from the ground, kneeling down on the field. (ATK: 1000-600 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4) "My Heat may be frozen in place, but he gets stronger with another Elemental HERO on the field." ( **ATK: 1800-2000** ) "I'll end my turn."

"I draw." Matt said. "I reveal my facedown monster." The monster card flipped face up and revealed and old man with blue skin, fiery red eyes and a white, short beard. He was wearing a green robe with a red cape and holding a staff with a tip in the shape of a lightning bolt. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1300 LV: 4) "This is The Immortal of Thunder and as you probably guessed, he has a flip effect." The old man held up his staff and shot a stream of electricity in the air. And then, Matt was suddenly struck by a bolt of lightning. But the most shocking part of this ( **No pun intended** ) is that he didn't seem to react at all. He just stood there with a calm expression, when he was surrounded by a yellow aura.

 **Matt: 1800-4800**

"What!? Did he just increase his life points!?" Syrus exclaimed.

"How did he do that?" Chumley asked.

"I think he mentioned something about his monster's flip effect." Jaden said.

"That's right. Thanks to The Immortal of Thunder, I was able to gain 3000 life points."

Andrew raised an eyebrow. "I actually know about that, but there is a risk to use that monster."

"There is a risk?" The Slifer trio asked simultaneously.

"Yeah, that monster may increase your life points, but he has a weakness. And a ridiculous one in my opinion. If he is sent from the field to the graveyard, you will take 5000 points of damage.

Everyone in the group, except for Bastion, gasped.

"Whoa! 5000? Is that really possible?" Jaden asked.

"Well, like Andrew said, it is ridiculous, but it's true." Bastion said. "Although, I doubt Matt would use that monster without a way to avoid its weakness."

"But can he even do that?" Syrus asked.

"All of you are about find out soon enough, but for now, I'll end my turn by placing a monster and another card facedown." Two facedown cards appeared on Matt's side of the field.

"Then it's my turn. And now I activate Woodsman's ability. During my standby phase, I can take a Polymerization from deck or graveyard and add it to my hand." Andrew went through his deck and took the spell card he was searching for. "And next, I'll summon Elemental HERO Stratos in attack mode." The turbine winged hero appeared next to Woodsman. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 300 LV: 4) ( **ATK: 2000-2200** ) "And he's got a special ability, for every other HERO I control, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field. And the number of heroes on my field is more than enough to take down Pixie Ring, Burden of the Mighty and your facedown card."

"Nice. That means the attack strength of Andrew's monsters will go back to normal." Jenny said.

"Awesome! Way to play, Andrew." Syrus cheered.

"That might be a problem." Matt commented. "Then I'll better activate my trap card before that happens." His facedown card revealed itself. "This card is known as Compulsory Evacuation Device, and due to its effect, I can make one of the monsters on field go back to its owner's hand. And the one I choose is The Immortal of Thunder." After the named monster disappeared, the card went back to Matt's hand.

"Clever. With that monster back to his hand, Matt is safe from its weakness." Bastion said.

"No joke. That was a sweet move." Jaden said.

"So you saved your monster, but your spell and trap card aren't safe." The wind hero used his turbine wings to create a cyclone and destroyed the two remaining cards. "And without your spell card, my monsters' attack points are restored." ( **ATK: 1400-2100** ) ( **ATK: 2200-2600** ) ( **ATK: 1100-1500** ) (ATK: 600-1000)

"Nicely played, Andrew!" Jenny cheered.

"Good show." Bastion added.

"Way to go, pal!" Jaden cheered.

"Now let's go wild. Ocean, attack his Dark Eyes Illusionist!" The water hero dashed towards the one eyed monster and stabbed him with his trident. The moment it was destroyed, the glowing mark on Heat's chest disappeared. "And now Heat is free, so it's time to take down your facedown monster. Bladedge, attack!" The golden hero approached the facedown monster and was about to strike it down, but not before it flipped face up and revealed the monster itself. The creature looked like some kind of space pod with one big green eye and a blue face with a sharp grin. (ATK: 900 **DEF: 900** LV: 3)

"Great Scott!" Bastion exclaimed. "That's Cyber Jar."

"Is that monster some bad news?" Jaden asked.

Jenny grimaced. "Really bad. Watch this."

The hero cut the mechanical monster in half.

 **Matt: 4800-3100**

"It may cost me a few life points, but it will cost you something more." Matt said as he smirked. "You see, due to its flip effect, all monsters on the field are destroyed.

"No way!" Andrew exclaimed and watched as his monsters were destroyed, one by one.

"And after that, both of us are forced to pick up five new cards, and then, we must summon any level 4 or below monster we get. We're allowed choose their battle mode; face up attack mode or facedown defense mode."

Both duelists drew five cards from their decks and Andrew looked at the cards he got. "Okay, I got three monsters I can summon and I'll place all three of them on the field in attack mode. Come on out, Elemental HERO Lady Heat, Shadow Mist, and Knospe!" The white and orange clad female hero appeared on the field, along with the black armored woman and the little humanoid flower bud. ( **ATK: 1300** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1500 LV: 4) ( **ATK: 600** DEF: 1000 LV: 3)

Matt looked at the cards he got and smirked. "I got two and I'll place both of them in defense mode." The two monster cards appeared on the field facedown.

"Well, I'm not done yet, because I can now activate Shadow Mist's ability. Since she was special summoned, I can take a 'Change' quick play spell card from my deck and add it to my hand. I choose Mask Change." Andrew held up the named card he took from his deck. "And now for my next move. Elemental HERO Knospe, attack him directly!"

"W-what?" Matt asked, being surprised by this.

"With another Elemental HERO on my field, Knospe can bypass your monsters and attack you directly. Go, Seed Cannon!" The plant hero fired seeds from its open buds. The seeds exploded at Matt's feet

 **Matt: 3100-2500**

"Since Knospe's direct attack was successful, her special ability activates. She gets 100 extra attack points, but loses 100 defense points." **(ATK: 600-700** DEF: 1000-900) "And now it's time to activate the spell card Mask Change." Andrew declared as he inserted the spell card into his duel disk. "With this, I can send a HERO monster from my field to my graveyard and summon a Masked HERO with the same attribute as that monster. I choose Shadow Mist." The black armored woman was enveloped by a pillar of dark energy. "I summon Masked HERO Anki!" The woman was now replaced by the jet black armored hero. **ATK: 2800** DEF: 1200 LV: 8)

Matt whistled at this. "One of your Masked heroes, huh?"

Andrew smiled. "That's right. And wait until you see what he can do. Masked HERO Anki, attack him directly!"

The group watching were shocked, but not as shocked as Matt.

"What!? Can you really attack me directly with that monster?"

"Thanks to his special ability, yes. But in that case, you will take damage equal to half of his attack points."

"Hey, that sounds like my Rampart Blaster." Jaden commented.

"Only that this monster doesn't need to be in defense mode to do that." Jenny said.

"Now attack with Shadow Strike!" Anki melted into the ground and disappeared. Matt looked around, wondering where the masked hero went. He failed to notice the dark armored warrior appear right behind him. And before he could react, the hero struck him on his head with his fist.

 **Matt: 2500-1100**

And then, the hero melted into the ground again and reappeared on Andrew's field. "And to end my turn, I play two facedowns." Two cards appeared behind the heroes. "And this trigger Lady Heat's special ability. During my end phase, you take 200 points of damage for every Elemental HERO I have on the field." The fire hero conjured a fireball in on hand and threw it at Matt.

 **Matt: 1100-0700**

"Lishus." Chumley said.

"Awesome." Syrus added.

Matt was suddenly laughing. "Wow. You're really good. For real."

Andrew smiled at the compliment. "Thank you. You're actually not bad yourself. I've never met someone who could use flip effects as skilled as you."

Matt smirked. "If you like what I did this far, wait until I do this." He drew a card. "First I reveal one of my facedown monsters." One of the monster cards flipped up and revealed a rather creepy-looking monster. It's body looked like a human brain with one eye and had wings. It also had arms with claws. ( **ATK: 200** DEF: 900 LV: 2) "This is Brain Jacker and this monster has a nasty flip effect. It becomes an equip spell which allows me to take control of one your monsters and I think you can guess who."

Andrew gasped as the brain-like creature flew over to Anki and grabbed his head with its claws. The masked hero walked slowly away from Andrew and turned around when he stopped on Matt's side of the field.

"Whoa! He took control of Andrew's best monster." Syrus stated.

"Yeah, he sure know how to use those flip effect monsters." Jaden commented.

"Based on his mastery of his monsters, I understand now why he was recommended to become a Ra Yellow." Jenny said. "I wonder what he's doing next?"

"With your Masked hero on my side, I should be able to finish this. But first, I reveal my other facedown monster." The facedown monster that was summoned this time was something... quite bizarre. It was a jar with a weird-looking face. It was grinning while revealing its tongue. ( **ATK: 200** DEF: 300 LV: 3) "This one is called Dice Jar, and his flip effect will determine the outcome of this duel."

As soon as those words left Matt's mouth, two dices appeared in the air; one above Matt's field and one above Andrew's field. "Here's how it works, each of us must roll a die, and here's the most exciting part, the player with the lowest result will take damage equal to the opposing player's result multiplied by 500 points.

The spectators gasped.

"500?" Syrus asked nervously.

"Let's see, Matt has 1200 life points and Andrew has 2100. So um... I don't know." Jaden said, trying to count.

"That would mean if Andrew gets a higher number than Matt, then it has to be 3 or higher for him to win." Bastion replied.

"But if Matt gets a higher number than Andrew, it would take a 5 or 6, and Andrew loses." Jenny added.

"Not lishus." Chumley said.

"Well Andrew, are you ready to roll the dice?" Matt asked.

Andrew was clearly nervous about this, but regardless, he nodded. "I am."

The purple-haired Slifer grinned. "Okay, let's go!" The two dices fell onto the ground and rolled. Everyone watched intently, waiting for the result. Matt's die stopped first and landed on... a 5.

"A 5!?" Syrus and Chumley exclaimed.

"Oh, that means Andrew needs a 6 to win this." Jenny said, obviously nervous.

"I'm sure he got this." Jaden said determined.

Andrew's die rolled around for a bit longer and started to slow down. It appeared it was about to land on a 6.

"Yes, yes." Andrew said, hoping strongly to get a 6. But unfortunately, it landed on a lower number. Specifically… "A '2'!?" Andrew asked with widened eyes.

"My word. That means Andrew is about to lose." Bastion pointed.

"No way." Jenny said disbelieved.

Matt smirked smugly. "It looks I don't need to attack with Anki to win this. Well Andrew, it's been a _blast._ " He punned as the die on Andrew's field exploded.

Everyone watched as Andrew's field was covered in smoke. They waited for a moment until the smoke cleared. When his field was fully exposed, everyone was surprised by Andrew's state. He was standing there calmly with a smile on his face. And what got everyone's full attention, was his life points...

 **Andrew: 1600**

"What!?" Matt exclaimed. "You still got points? How?"

"Simple." Andrew replied. "I activated this trap card." He pointed at a card that was revealed. "It's called Elemental Recharge. This card gives me a thousand life points for every Elemental HERO I have on the field.

Everyone gasped.

"Then you…" Matt realized.

Andrew nodded.

* * *

 **Flashback**

 _While all of you were focusing on the dice roll, I used my trap card to increase my_ _life points._

Andrew's trap card revealed itself and he was surrounded by a light-blue aura.

 **Andrew: 2100-4100**

And his life points were increased just before Andrew suffered the explosion from the dice roll.

 **Andrew: 4100-1600**

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"Sweet! That means Andrew is still in play." Jaden said.

"Bravo." Bastion congratulated.

Jenny sighed in relief. "Wow, I don't know how much more I can take."

"Okay, it looks like I need your Masked HERO after all. But first I sacrifice my Dice Jar in order to play a monster in defense mode." Dice Jar was now replaced by a facedown monster. "And now I activate the spell card Magical Stone Excavation. By discarding two cards from my hand, I can take back a spell card from my graveyard." Matt discarded his two remaining cards and took a certain spell card from his graveyard slot. "And I choose this one, Book of Taiyou."

Andrew widened his eyes. "Could it be…"

"That's right. I took it back so I can flip up my facedown monster." The facedown card flipped up and revealed a certain reaper monster. ( **ATK: 1380** DEF: 1930 LV: 5) "Reaper of the Cards."

"What can he do?"

"Due to his flip effect, Reaper can destroy a trap card on the field, and I'm sure that's exactly what your other facedown card is."

"If reaper destroys it, then Andrew will be defenseless." Bastion said.

"Not good." Jaden commented.

"Alright Reaper, let's see what he got there." The monster flew forward, preparing to destroy Andrew's card.

"I activate my trap card, Blast with Chain." The now face up trap card brought out several sticks of dynamite, held together by a by a long chain. As soon as the bomb appeared, Lady Heat caught it with her hands. "This trap card becomes an equip card with the effect to give the equipped monster 500 attack points." ( **ATK: 1300-1800** )

"But still, since it is a trap card, my Reaper will destroy it." The reaper slashed the trap card with its scythe, making it to shatter into pixels. ( **ATK: 1800-1300** )

Andrew smirked. "That's exactly what I wanted. You see when Blast with Chain is destroyed while equipped to a monster, one card one the field is destroyed."

Matt was now flabbergasted. "W-w-what!? But then…"

"That means I can destroy any card I want, and there's only one card I want to get rid of... Brain Jacker!"

Matt could only watch in horror as the female hero threw the bomb at the brain creature attached to Anki and blew it up. And with that monster gone, the masked hero returned to Andrew's field.

"Incredible." Jenny said happily. "Now Anki is free from Matt's control."

"Which means Andrew can win this." Jaden added.

Andrew noticed the disappointed look on Matt's face. The latter looked down at the ground silently. Andrew was about to get worried, but saw the Slifer boy looking up with a smile.

"I guess there's nothing more I can do. Well this sucks. But, this duel has been exciting."

Andrew blinked before smiling. "Yeah, I enjoyed the duel as well. You're really good Matt."

"Thank you. But in the end, only the best one wins. So… I'll end my turn."

"Okay then." Andrew drew a card. "Masked HERO Anki, attack his Reaper of the Cards!" The dark armored flew towards the reaper and punched him really hard, causing him to shatter into pixels.

 **Matt: 0700-0000**

After the battle was over, the holograms disappeared. The spectators applauded for the two duelists.

"Good show." Bastion said.

"Well played, guys." Jenny said.

"That was a sweet duel." Jaden added.

While everyone were clapping their hands, Andrew and Matt shook hands.

"You played really good." Andrew complimented.

"Thanks, but you did better." Matt replied.

"That was wicked." Jaden said as he and the others approached. "Your flip effect monsters are something else. Maybe we could duel someday."

Matt seemed to consider the suggestion. "Thanks, maybe we will."

"Good, I can't wait for the flip out. Get it? Because he used he used flip effect monsters." Everyone sweat dropped at Jaden's joke.

"Anyway, I think I'll head back to the dorm now. I'm kinda exhausted." Matt admitted.

"Well, It was nice dueling you. See ya around."

"Yeah, see ya." Matt waved before leaving the clearing.

Everyone watched them walk away in silence. The first one to break the silence was Jaden.

"So, who's up for lunch?"

"I'm in." Syrus replied.

"I could use for some grilled cheeses." Chumley added.

"There's more to life than grilled cheeses, Chumley." Andrew stated.

"Grilled cheeses are best, duh." Everyone laughed at Chumley's reply."

* * *

 **Okay. I think I should stop there. I hope you guys liked this. Until Next time.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Name The Prize**

It was another sunny day at Duel Academy. Everything was the same as usual, many students were attending classes, and other students were walking around on campus. Then there is the card shop. A couple of workmen, carrying boxes, entered to leave some new cards there, under the supervision of Ms. Dorothy.

"Okay boys, you put the booster packs there, and the starter decks there." She said as she directed them.

"Yes ma'am." The men replied. They went to the shelfs and placed the goods on them. Among those goods, a special ritual monster was placed there. It was a dark level 7 monster with 2500 attack points and 1400 defense points.

* * *

Later in the day, a certain ritual duelist was sitting at a desk in his dorm room. Shiori was looking at the cards he had laid out before him.

"Let's see, if I take away this card and add this one." He muttered while rearranging his deck. He was sitting there for a few minutes until he sighed and crossed his arms. "Hm, that's all well and good, but I think something's missing. But what?"

He sat there in silence, wondering what he should do to improve his deck. And then, a thought crossed his mind. "Oh, maybe I should head to the card shop and buy me some new cards." he gathered all the cards he had on his desk, put the deck in his holder and stood up while smiling. "Alright, here I come." He declared as he left the room.

* * *

At the sane time, someone in the Obelisk boys' dorm was looking at the cards he had on the desk in his dorm room. A certain dark duelist to be exact.

"Well, this looks promising." Michael said as he rearranged his deck. "But I need something to kick things up a little." He rubbed at his chin while figuring out what to do. After a few minutes of thinking, he smirked and snapped his fingers. "Maybe I can get some new cards from the shop." He gathered his cards and stood up. "Then let's see what they got there."

* * *

Meanwhile, Jaden, Syrus, Chumley and Andrew were walking in the hall.

"Seriously Jaden. Can't you get through one class without falling asleep?" Andrew asked.

"Hey, it's not my fault." Jaden whined. "The teacher's voice is just too boring."

"Whatever you say." Andrew rolled his eyes.

"To be fair, I wasn't paying attention either." Syrus admitted.

"Same here." Chumley added.

Jaden shrugged. "Yeah, whatever. So, how about we head toward the card shop?"

"Sure, why not? I could use some new cards to add in my deck." Andrew replied while the other two Slifers nodded in approval.

The group walked through the hallway for a bit, and arrived at their intended destination shortly. There were a few students there who were looking around. They noticed two familiar faces.

"Hey, Michael, Shiori." Andrew greeted.

The Obelisk and Ra boy turned to face the group.

"Yo, Andrew." Michael greeted.

"How's it going guys?" Shiori asked.

"We're all good." Jaden replied.

"And you?" Andrew asked.

"I'm fine." Shiori replied.

"Same here." Michael added.

"So what are you guys doing here?" Syrus asked.

"Well, I'm looking to add some new cards to my deck." Shiori said.

"Yeah, I need something to upgrade my deck as well." Michael added.

"That's cool." Jaden said.

With that said, the guys looked around, hoping to find something useful. The boys looked at the cards and booster packs on the shelfs to see if they could find something good. Shiori and Michael were looking through one of the shelfs and stopped when both of them saw something very interesting.

"Wow!" Shiori gasped.

"Cool." Michael said.

What they found was a ritual monster card. It was a level 7 dark attribute monster with 2500 attack points and 1400 defense points. The card had an image of a purple armored warlord with red eyes. It was wearing a white, fiendish mask and a golden medallion on its chest that was tied up with chains.

"That's Garlandolf, King of Destruction!" The ritual duelist exclaimed.

"A very rare and powerful monster card." The dark duelist said, being as amazed as Shiori.

"Okay…"

"No doubt about it…"

"This card is mine!" They said as they grabbed the card at the same time. They then turned to each other and had awkward expressions on their faces.

"Oh. Well, this…" Shiori said.

"Might be a problem." Michael filled in.

"What's wrong guys?" Andrew asked as he and the others approached them.

"We um... kinda found this very rare card." Shiori explained.

"And unfortunately, it seems we both want it." Michael added.

"That _is_ a problem." Syrus remarked.

"No joke." Jaden agreed. "I mean, Shiori is a ritual duelist, so that card would be a sweet addition to his deck."

"And since it's a dark attribute monster, Michael would be able to use it as well." Andrew added.

"So what now?" Chumley asked.

Michael turned to Ms. Dorothy who happened to pass by. "Hey, Ms. Dorothy. Any chance you have another copy of this card for sale?"

The card shop owner gave the boys an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't have any. Of course, you might be able to get that card from one of the booster packs."

"But wether we get that card from a booster pack depends on our luck." Shiori said.

"So how are we supposed to solve this?" Andrew wondered.

The group stood there in silence for a moment. Shiori really wanted that card, but didn't want to make Michael disappointed by taking away his chance to get it. Michael felt the same thing.

But then, Jaden suddenly grinned when an idea crossed his mind. "Oh, I know!"

Everyone looked at him. "What is it, Jay?" Syrus asked.

"I know how to settle this. Since both Shiori and Michael want that card, well then... how about they duel for it?"

The Ra and Obelisk boy widened their eyes. "A duel?" They asked.

"Uh huh. I mean, that should be fair, right? One duel, and the winner takes all."

This made Michael place his hand at his shin while considering the idea. "Ya know, that's actually a good idea." He then smiled and glanced at Shiori. "What do you think?"

The ritual duelist stood there in silence for a moment. After almost 10 seconds of thinking, he smiled back. "I think it sounds good, but how about we make it more interesting?"

Michael raised an eyebrow. "What do you suggest?"

"It's simple; if we duel, not only the winner gets the card, but the loser will help by paying half of the money for it."

That caused Michael to give the blond a determined smirk. "Sounds great. Bring it on!"

Andrew nodded as he grabbed the ritual card. "Okay, if that's the case, then I'll take care of this card until the duel is over."

The students nearby overheard the conversation.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, a duel with that ritual monster as the prize."

"Cool."

And so, Michael and Shiori went to a clear area where they could duel. Both them shuffled each others decks before getting started. Everyone else was watching on the sideline, waiting for the duel to start.

"Alright. This is gonna be sweet." Jaden said excited.

"I actually wanted to see those two duel each other for once." Andrew admitted.

"This is interesting." A feminine voice spoke up.

The boys turned around and saw Alexis and Jenny walk up to them.

"Hey, what's up girls?" The brown-haired Slifer greeted.

"We're doing fine." Jenny replied. "So, what's this all about?"

"Well, Michael and Shiori want to have this card." Andrew explained as he showed the card he was referring to. "And since only one of them can get it, they will settle this in a duel."

"That sounds fair enough." Alexis nodded with an understanding look. "I actually haven't seen Michael duel for a long time. The only time I saw him duel was when he faced Andrew."

"And that duel was very tough, that's for sure." The latter said.

"Yeah, no kidding." Jaden agreed. "He even put up a great fight when Syrus and I dueled him."

"Then let's see how he fair against Shiori." Jenny said.

After the duelists shuffled their decks, they gave them back to each and took their positions. Each of them inserted the deck into his duel disk.

"Okay, it's time to get this started." Shiori announced.

"And may the best duelist win." Michael added.

Both duelists activated their duel disks and drew their starting hands.

"LET'S DUEL!"

 **Shiori: 4000**

 **Michael: 4000**

"I think I'll start." Michael said before drawing a sixth card. from his deck. "First I'll summon Dark Crusader in attack mode." A red haired man, wearing a skeletal mask rose on the field. He wearing a pitch black armor from the neck down, wielding a long, wide black sword. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 200 LV: 4) "Then I'll activate his special ability. By discarding a dark attribute monster from my hand, I can increase his attack strength by 400 points." Michael discarded one of his cards, causing a dark purple aura surround the dark warrior. ( **ATK: 1600-2000** ) "And now I'll end my turn with a facedown card." A card appeared behind the crusader.

"My turn then." Shiori announced. "And I activate the spell card Ascending Soul." A continuous spell card appeared. "It works like this; once per turn, when a ritual monster is ritual summoned, I can take one of the monsters that was sacrificed for the ritual summon from my graveyard and add it to my hand."

"No way! So he can take back one of the monsters he sacrifices for a ritual summon?" Jaden asked.

"Yeah, it appears so." Andrew replied. "That's one handy card."

"For my next move, I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands in attack mode." The grayish humanoid creature with many hands appeared in front of Shiori. **(ATK: 1400** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "And now I activate his special ability. After he's summoned, I'm allowed to take a ritual monster or spell card from my deck and add it to my hand. And I think I'll use it right away. Activate End of the World!" First the spell card appeared, and then, dark clouds materialized above the field.

"This lets me sacrifice monsters with a total level of 8 or higher in order to summon a certain ritual monster. So I sacrifice Manju on the field and Djinn Presider of Rituals from my hand in order to summon Ruin, Queen of Oblivion." A monster appeared next to Manju. It was a chubby fiend with lime green skin. It was wielding a round, bronze shield and a rapier with a skull hilt. It was wearing some kind of helmet, making it almost look like a gladiator. (ATK: 1800 DEF: 1400 **LV: 4** ) The two monsters were struck by a lightning from the clouds. And then, the regal, feminine fairy type monster stood tall on Shiori's field, holding her scepter in one hand. ( **ATK: 2300** DEF: 2000 LV: 8)

"Ruin, huh?" Jaden mused. "I actually hoped I would get to see the other monster that can be summoned by that spell, whatever that monster is."

"Well, I never asked Shiori about it, so I don't know if he has that monster." Andrew replied.

"In any case, the monster he got now is at least strong enough to take down Dark Crusader." Jenny said.

"And don't forget, thanks to Ascending Soul, I can take back one of the monsters I sacrificed from my graveyard and add it to my hand. So I'll take back Manju." The named card ejected from the duel disk before Shiori placed it in his hand. "Now Ruin, attack with Blast of Oblivion!" The woman conjured a ball of energy with her scepter and blasted the dark armored warrior.

 **Michael: 4000-3700**

"And since Ruin destroyed a monster in battle, the effect of Djinn Presider is activated."

Michael blinked at this. "Djinn Presider? The monster you sacrificed?"

"That's right. You see, since he was used for a ritual summon, he gave my ritual monster a special effect. Whenever it destroys a monster in battle, I get to draw one card from my deck." Shiori explained as he drew a card.

"Wait a minute. That sounds similar to that Djinn monster he used against you, Andrew." Jaden said.

"Yeah, you're right." The Ra Yellow boy replied. "The one he used against me made his ritual monster immune to trap cards. It seems that each of those Djinn monsters can grant a ritual monster a certain ability."

"Wow. I wonder what other Djinn monsters he got." Syrus said.

"Who knows?" Alexis asked.

"And this is just the beginning." Shiori continued. "Because now, Ruin's very own ability is activated. After destroying a monster in battle, she can attack a second time. Which means you are wide open for a direct attack." The woman prepared to launch another ball of energy...

"Not exactly." Michael replied. "Because I play my trap card, Call of the Haunted." His facedown card flipped up. "Now I can summon a monster from my graveyard in attack mode. And I choose Mystic Tomato." A giant tomato with a creepy face rose on the field. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 1100 LV: 4)

 _'That must have been the card he discarded earlier.'_ Shiori mused.  
"In that case, I'll attack him instead." The woman blasted the tomato with her second energy ball.

 **Michael: 3700-2800**

"And by destroying another another monster, Ruin lets me draw another card." The ritual duelist drew another card.

"I get something as well. Since Mystic Tomato was destroyed in battle, I'm allowed to summon a dark attribute monster with up to 1500 attack points from my deck. And I choose Legendary Fiend." A new monster appeared on Michael's field. It was a muscular blue-skinned creature with a black lower half and bat-like wings of the same color. It had four long pointy claws on each hand and two additional necks on either side of its head, both with another head at the end. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1800 LV: 6)

"1500 attack points? That won't do so much against the Queen of Oblivion." Chumley commented.

"Actually, that Legendary Fiend is more powerful than you think." Alexis replied.

"What do you mean, Alexis?" Jaden asked.

"Just wait and see." Jenny said.

"I place two cards facedown and end my turn." Two facedown cards appeared at Shiori's feet.

"My move then." Michael drew a card and gave Shiori a smirk. "And now, my Legendary Fiend's special ability activates. During my standby phase, he gains 700 attack points." The blue-skinned creature was surrounded by an ominous, purple aura which granted it more power. ( **ATK: 1500-2200** )

"Not bad, but I'm afraid your monster is a few points short." Shiori pointed out.

"That can be fixed, by playing the field spell, Mystic Plasma Zone." The moment Michael inserted his spell card into his duel disk, dark clouds materialized above the field. "Thanks to this, all dark monsters gain 500 attack points and loses 400 defense points." ( **ATK: 2200-2700** DEF: 1800-1400)

"Wow. Sweet moves." Jaden commented."

"Michael sure knows what he's doing." Andrew added while smiling.

"And for my next move, I summon Dark Hunter in attack mode." The monster that appeared next to the Legendary Fiend was a humanoid bird creature wearing a green and black armor with a dark cape. The creature was holding a knife in one hand. ( **ATK: 1600-2100** DEF: 400-0 LV: 4) "This monster has a special ability that changes depending on the number of dark attribute monsters in my graveyard. And right now, there are two monsters in there. And because of that, my Dark Hunter's special ability gives him 400 attack points." The creature was surrounded by an eerie green aura. ( **ATK: 2100-2500** )

"Oh boy. That's not good." Shiori said nervously.

"Now I'll attack with my Dark Hunter. Take down his Queen of Oblivion!" The green and black creature dashed towards the woman and was about to slice her with the knife.

Shiori glanced at his facedown cards. _'Hm, I wish I could save Ruin, but only one of my cards can be used, and it can only stop one attack. I guess_ I _better make the best out of it.'_ He watched as the fiend type monster slashed his ritual monster who cried out before shattering into pixels.

 **Shiori: 4000-3800**

"And now Legendary Fiend, attack him directly." The multi-headed fiend roared before it ran toward Shiori.

"I play my trap, Draining Shield!" The trap card flipped and created a barrier, which blocked the clawing strike from Michael's monster. "This card stops your attack, and gives me life points equal to your monster's attack points." After the monster returned to Michael's field, the barrier disappeared, and Shiori was surrounded by a light-blue aura.

 **Shiori: 3800-6500**

"Wow! Shiori's life points are very high." Syrus said. "That's insane."

Andrew glanced at him and raised an eyebrow. "You call that amount of life points insane? When I dueled Jenny, she raised her points much higher than that."

Syrus blinked twice before scratching his right cheek, with an embarrassed look on his face. "Oh, right."

"Okay, I'll just end my turn then." Michael said.

"Then it's my move." Shiori drew a card. When he saw what he got, he smiled. _'Yes, this is just what I needed. But first, I'll need another card, and I know exactly how I can get it.'_ He then took a certain card from his hand. "I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands." The creature with many hands appeared once again. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "And as you know, I get to add a ritual monster or spell card to my hand. And I choose this spell card." He took the card he wanted and showed it to Michael. It had the picture of a giant, wooden ark with a sliver sail that had ancient marks on it. "Shinato's Ark. And I'll use it right away so I can summon my ritual monster.

The spectators watched in awe as the giant ark in the picture of the card appeared on the field.

"In order to summon my ritual monster, I must sacrifice monsters with a total level of 8 or higher. And I think I'll sacrifice my Manju and…" Shiori paused as a certain effect monster card ejected from his duel disk. "Djinn Presider of Rituals."

Michael gasped. "What!? How can you sacrifice a monster that is already in your graveyard?"

"Because of my Presider's second effect. Whenever I ritual summon a monster, I can take him from my graveyard and remove it from play. And in return, he becomes one of the sacrifices that I need for the ritual."

This revelation made the spectators gasp.

"What? So he can use that monster, even when it's in the graveyard?" Chumley asked.

"Wow. Shiori is becoming even better than before." Andrew said.

"Yeah, no kidding. Way to go, Shiori!" Jaden cheered.

The green-skinned fiend appeared next to Manju before the ark opened and absorbed them into it. Then, the whole ark glowed by a golden light and changed its form into some kind of creature. And then, when the golden glowing died down, everyone could see the true form of the new monster. "I summon Shinato, King of a Higher Plane!" It was a very tall, blue-skinned man wearing a white and golden royal gown and a golden celestial crown on his blue hair. From his back, four golden wings waved out and kept him aloft. ( **ATK: 3300** DEF: 3000 LV: 8)

"Whoa! 3300 attack points!?" Syrus gasped.

"That's pretty strong." Jaden added.

"And if used properly, that monster can be very dangerous." Jenny replied.

"What do you mean?" Andrew asked.

"I think you'll find out later."

Michael was actually amazed by Shiori's new monster. "Wow! That monster is impressive."

The ritual duelist smiled at the compliment. "Thank you. Just wait until you see him in action. But first, I'll use the effect of Ascending Soul to take back my Manju from the graveyard." Shiori took the named card from his graveyard and placed it in his hand. "Shinato, attack! Destroy his Legendary Fiend with Divine Ring!" The blue-skinned man raised his hands and created six purple orbs with different kanji on them. Suddenly, they spun around his hands and formed a light energy ring, quickly surrounded the fiend type monster and zapped it with its power. The multi-headed creature roared in pain before it shattered into pixels.

 **Michael: 2800-2200**

"And don't forget, I used my Presider to summon Shinato, which means I get to draw a card from my deck." Shiori looked at the card he drew and placed it in his hand. "I end my turn."

"My turn." Michael announced drawing his next card. "First I play the spell card Allure of Darkness. This lets me draw two cards from my deck, but after that, I'm forced to either take a dark monster from my hand and remove it from play, or send my entire hand to the graveyard." Michael drew his two cards and smirked when he saw what he got. "This might be good. Okay, the monster I remove from play, is this one." He held up the monster card he chose. It had the picture of a familiar, metallic bird creature.

"Wait a minute. That's Dark Horus." Syrus pointed out. "Why would he remove that card from play?"

"I don't know. But I'm sure Michael has a good reason for that." Andrew replied.

After Michael put the monster card in is pocket, he took a card from his hand. "Now I'll place a card facedown on the field, then I'll switch Dark Hunter to defense mode and end my turn." A facedown card appeared behind the green armored creature that kneeled down.

"Then here goes." Shiori drew a card. "I activate the spell card Trade-In. By discarding a level 8 monster, I get to draw two cards from my deck. So I'll discard Tri-Horned Dragon." He discarded the named card and drew two new cards. He frowned at what he got. _'Hmm. Not really what I_ _expected.'_ He then eyed at Michael's field. _'Of course, I could summon Manju again just to have a monster to destroy Dark Hunter and attack him directly with Shinato. But then again, he might be able to stop me with his facedown card, so maybe I should save the summoning for later.'_

He placed the cards he drew in his hand before giving his ritual monster a command. "Shinato, attack his Dark Hunter!" The golden winged ritual monster used the Divine Ring to destroy the green armored creature. "And now you're about to witness the true power of Shinato. You see, when he destroys a monster in defense mode, you take damage equal to that monster's original attack points."

"Original attack points?" Chumley asked.

"That's right. And Dark Hunter's original attack points are 1600." Alexis confirmed.

"Then this is gonna hurt for Michael." Jaden stated.

The Divine Ring that destroyed the fiend type monster surrounded Michael, who winced when he was zapped by it.

 **Michael: 2200-0600**

"And because Shinato destroyed a monster, I draw another card." Shiori drew a card. "I'll end my turn."

"My move." Michael drew a card. "I think it's time to kick things up a little." As soon as those words left his mouth, his facedown card flipped up. "So I'll play the trap card Escape from the Dark Dimension. This lets me summon one of my dark monsters that's been removed from play. And there's only one monster I've removed so far; Dark Horus!" A dark portal appeared, and out of it, came the large bird creature with its black, metallic body. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 1800 LV: 8) "And don't forget, my field spell is still in play, so my monster gets stronger." ( **ATK: 3000-3500** DEF: 1800-1400)

"So that's why he removed his Dark Horus from play." Jaden realized. "He was planning to summon it to the field with his trap card."

"That was a clever move." Jenny said smiling.

"And with that many attack points, Michael's monster can take down Shinato." Andrew added.

"Now for my next move, I summon Armageddon Knight attack mode." A black-haired warrior wearing black armor appeared. The warrior had a red cape and wielded a sleek sword. ( **ATK: 1400-1900** DEF: 1200-800 LV: 4) "And he's got a special ability. As soon as he's summoned, I can send a dark attribute monster from my deck to the graveyard." Michael looked through his deck, took the card he wanted and slid it in his graveyard slot. "And now I'll destroy your Shinato. Dark Horus attack his king with Dark Flame Breath!" The bird-like dragon spat out a torrent of black flames that destroyed Shiori's ritual monster.

 **Shiori: 6500-6300**

"And now Armageddon Knight, attack him directly!" The warrior dashed towards Shiori and was about to stab him with his sword.

"I play my trap…" Shiori's facedown card flipped up. "Birthright! This lets me summon a normal monster from my graveyard. And I choose Tri-Horned Dragon." The warrior stopped when a pillar of light appeared in front of Shiori's trap card. And when it was gone, a blue dragon with three horns sprouting on its head and four spikes protruding its back rose on the field. ( **ATK: 2850** DEF: 2350 LV: 8) "And since my dragon is a dark attribute monster, he gets stronger thanks to your field spell." The dragon growled as it felt its power increase. ( **ATK: 2850-3350** DEF: 2350-1950)

Michael clicked his tongue. "Okay, then I'll just stop my attack." The warrior returned to Michael's field. "Then I'll end my turn by playing the spell card Veil of Darkness." A continuous spell card appeared.

"My turn." Shiori drew a card and glanced at it. He then smirked when saw what he got. _'Looks like I got something good. Of course, Michael doesn't have any facedown cards, so I should be able to attack.'_ He mused. "Tri-horned Dragon, attack his Armageddon Knight." The dragon let a stream of fire intending to burn the black-armored warrior to ashes. "It's over."

"Guess again." Michael said as he discarded a card from his hand. This caused a small furry creature appeared right in front of him. And what's so interesting about this creature is that it looked similar to a monster that Jaden have.

"Hey, it's a Kuriboh." The brown-haired Slifer pointed out.

"An _original_ Kuriboh." Andrew added.

"By discarding this monster from my hand, all battle damage from your attack become zero." The flames engulfed Armageddon Knight, but Kuriboh was able to prevent the flames from getting closer to Michael.

"Whoa. Shiori was so close to defeat him." Chumley said, being astounded of the way Michael survived the attack.

"Well, Michael is not easily defeated." Alexis said.

"You said it. Way to go Michael!" Jaden cheered.

"That was a nice move, Michael." Shiori complimented.

"Thanks. You're really good yourself." Michael replied smiling.

"And you're great as well. I understand why Andrew fought so hard to defeat you. Anyway, I can't do anything more, I'll end my turn."

"Fine by me." Michael said and drew a card. "Now I activate the effect of Veil of Darkness. When I draw a dark attribute monster from my deck during my draw phase, I can reveal it and discard it in order to draw another card. And the card I drew is Mystic Tomato, so I'll discard it and draw another card." He discarded the card he revealed and drew a new card. He glanced at the card he drew and nodded. "Dark Horus, attack Tri-Horned Dragon!" He commanded as the metallic bird creature destroyed the blue dragon with another stream of black flames.

 **Shiori: 6300-6150**

"And that's all for now."

"Well, here goes." Shiori announced as he drew a card. "I play Graceful Charity. This lets me draw three cards from my deck and discard two from my hand." He drew three cards and looked at them. He smiled at what he got and discarded the two cards he didn't need. "And next I activate the spell card Fulfillment of the Contract. First I'll pay 800 life points…"

 **Shiori: 6150-5350**

"And then, I get to summon a ritual monster from my graveyard. So I'll bring back Shinato, King of a Higher Plane." The equip spell that appeared glowed brightly. And then, the blue-skinned angel returned to the field. ( **ATK: 3300** DEF: 3000 LV: 8)

"Sweet! Shiori got his best monster back!" Jaden said.

"But he's a little too weak to defeat Dark Horus." Syrus replied.

"No worries." Shiori said as if he heard what they said. "Because I got this." He inserted a card in his duel disk, causing a spell card appear on the field. "The spell card Book of Moon. This lets me choose a monster on the field and force it into facedown defense mode. And the monster I choose is Dark Horus."

Michael gasped as the bird creature disappeared and was replaced by a facedown card.

"This is it." Andrew said with widened eyes. "If Shiori's monster destroys Dark Horus, then Michael will take damage equal to its attack points."

"And Michael doesn't have enough life points to survive that." Jenny added.

"Then let's see if his attack will be successful."Alexis said.

"Okay, time to wrap this up. Shinato, attack his facedown monster with Divine Ring." The blue-skinned man created another energy ring and threw it at the facedown monster. But before it made contact, something got in its way. It was a warrior with long, white hair, wearing a red armor. He held up his arms defensively and took the hit of the energy ring.

Shiori widened his eyes. "Huh?"

He heard Michael chuckle while holding up a monster card with the picture of the warrior from earlier. "Nice try, but with my Necro Gardna in my graveyard, I can stop one of your attacks by removing him from play."

"Then that means…" Shiori said.

"My Dark Horus is safe." Michael filled in.

Shiori stood there in silence for a moment before he formed a serious expression on his face and took a card from his hand. "Okay, since that's the case, I play the spell card Ritual Cage." A spell card appeared and created a gollden cage around Shinato. "Due to its effect, any battle damage involving a ritual monster is reduced to zero. It also can't be targeted or destroyed by monster effects. Next I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands in defense mode." The humanoid creature with many kneeled down on the field. (ATK: 1400 **DEF: 1000** LV: 4) "And once again, I'll use his ability to add a ritual monster or spell card to my hand. And I choose this one…" He held up a ritual monster card with 2400 attack points and 2000 defense points. "Demise, King of Armageddon."

Michael widened his eyes. "No way."

"So he did have that card." Andrew said, getting the Slifer trio's attention.

"What do you mean?" Jaden asked.

"You know that End of the World can summon one of two specific ritual monsters and Ruin is one of them, right?" They nodded. "Well, the card Shiori just took out from his deck is the other one."

They then gasped.

"Aw man. So he really did have the both of them." Syrus said.

"So he he's going to summon it later." Chumley said.

"Then I'll end my turn with a facedown card." Shiori said as a card appeared behind Manju.

"Then it's my turn and once again, I'll use the effect of my Veil of Darkness." The card Michael drew was Pitch-Black Warwolf. He dicarded it and drew a new card. He looked at it and smirked. "Okay, now it's time to get down to business. First I activate the spell card Beginning of the End. If I have at least 7 dark attribute monsters in my graveyard, I can use this to remove 5 of them from play." Five of his cards ejected from his duel disk before he he put them in his pocket. "And then, in return, I get to draw three cards from my deck." He drew three cards and was pleased to see what he got.

"This is great. Because now I have exactly three dark monsters in my graveyard. And since that's the case, I'm allowed to summon my ace; Dark Armed Dragon!" The tall, muscular, black and silver dragon with spikes all over its body roared as it appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 2800-3300** DEF: 1000-600 LV: 7)

"Sweetness! He just pulled out his best monster." Jaden said, being excited.

"And if this goes well for him, this might be the end for Shiori." Andrew added.

"Next I'll flip up my Dark Horus." The bird-like creature appeared next to Dark Armed Dragon. ( **ATK: 3000-3500** DEF: 1800-1400 LV: 8) "Now I'll activate my Dark Armed Dragon's ability, which lets me remove a dark monster from my graveyard to destroy one of the cards on the field. From starters, I'll remove one card to destroy your Ritual Cage." The powerful dragon extended its tail and shot out a spike which destroyed the golden cage surrounding Shinato. "And without that card, your Shinato won't be safe from the next shot." Michael took another card from the graveyard, making the dragon to shot out another spike which destroyed the ritual monster. "Now I got one monster left in the graveyard, and since I don't trust your facedown card, I'll destroy it." After taking the last monster card from the graveyard, Michael let the dragon destroy Shiori's facedown card. He couldn't help but smirk. "Okay, looks like this is th…" He stopped at mid sentence when he saw a trap card appear in front of Shiori. "What the…?"

Now it was Shiori's turn to smirk. "Sorry, but you destroyed my Wild Tornado trap card. And that triggered its effect, which allows me to destroy one card on the field. So there goes for your Dark Armed Dragon." A tornado came into existence on the field and surrounded the named monster. The dragon roared in agony before it shattered into pixels.

"My dragon!" Michael exclaimed.

"No way! He destroyed Michael's best monster." Syrus said.

"But why didn't he destroy Dark Horus." Chumley asked. "That monster's got more attack points than Dark Armed Dragon."

"True, but if Shiori destroyed Dark Horus, then Michael could have used his dragon's ability again." Alexis replied. "So it was actually safer to destroy him instead of Dark Horus."

Michael snapped his fingers. "Oh shoot! I shouldn't have destroyed that card."

"Well, what's done is done." Shiori replied.

Michael then smirked confidently. "No biggie. I'll just take down your monster with my Dark Horus. But first, I'll activate the spell card Stop Defense, which lets me force your Manju to attack mode." The named monster stood up. "Now Dark Horus, attack with Dark Flame breath!" The monster with many hands fell victim to another fire stream from the bird-like creature. Shiori held up his arms defensively.

 **Shiori: 5350-3250**

"Then I'll end my turn with a facedown card." A facedown card appeared at his feet.

Shiori lowered his arms and drew a card. "Okay, here goes. I activate Card of Demise. So now I can draw until I have 5 cards in my hand." He drew a number of new cards and glanced at them. "Perfect, for my next move, I activate the spell card Magical Stone Excavation. This lets discard two cards from my hand, and then I can take back a spell card from my graveyard." Shiori discarded two cards and took back a certain spell card from his graveyard. "So now I resurrect End of the World."

The spectators gasped at this.

"What? Again?" One student asked.

"Is he going to summon another ritual monster?" Another student asked.

Michael was as surprised as them. "No way. Are you going to do what I think you're going to do?"

Shiori smirked. "Got that right. I'm going to summon… Ruin's counterpart!"

"Does he mean…?" Jaden asked.

"No doubt about it." Andrew replied seriously.

"For my ritual summon, I sacrifice my level 8 monster Rabidragon." The monster that appeared was a massive, snowy white dragon with a gold underbelly and large rabbit like ears which did little to offset its ferociousness. (ATK: 2950 DEF: 2900 **LV: 8** ) The dragon was then swallowed by blue flames. And then, a deep, scary growling was from within the flames. Everyone then watched as a new figure rose up from the blue flames which then died down. It was a tall, intimidating fiend with a skull-like face with black horns. It was dressed in a dark silver metal coat and wielded a massive axe. "There you have it, Michael. The almighty Demise, King of Armageddon." ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 2000 LV: 8)

"Scary!" Syrus and Chumley exclaimed, very terrified by the monster's appearance.

"Whoa!" Jaden gasped.

Even Jenny couldn't help but shudder at the ritual monster's appearance. "Uwah."

"Incredible." Alexis added.

"Oh my god." Andrew said.

Michael stared at the monster in awe. "Dude, that is one terrifying monster you got there."

Shiori nodded in approval. "And what makes him more terrifying, is his special ability. First I'll pay 2000 life points…"

 **Shiori:** **3250-1250**

"And then, my King of Armageddon destroys all other cards on the field."

"What!?" Michael exclaimed.

"Now my Demise, unleash your Flames of Armageddon!" The fiend slammed his axe down and unleashed a wave of blue flames which destroyed everything around him on the field, including Dark Horus, who cried out in pain before shattering into pixels.

Michael held up his arms in protection until the flames died down. "Ugh, my monster…"

"Is gone." Shiori filled in. "And with nothing left on your field, you are wide open. Now, Demise, finish this!" The dark armored fiend charged toward Michael and held up his axe.

The spectators watched intensively as the monster got closer to the dark duelist. The fiend then swung his axe at Michael and...

CLANG!

Was blocked by something that appeared right in front of him. To everyone's surprise, it was the familiar, armored warrior known as...

"Necro Gardna?" Shiori asked. "But you already removed that monster from play."

Michael chuckled at what he said. "You are right. I did remove him from play earlier. And since he was removed, I was able to use this spell card." He held up a card that many recognized.

"Burial from a Different Dimension." Shiori said, realizing what Michael did.

The dark duelist nodded.

* * *

 **Flashback**

The King of Armageddon slammed his axe down and unleashed a wave of blue flames which destroyed everything around him on the field.

But before the flames reached Michael's field, he activated his facedown card which was Burial from a Different Dimension.

 _"Thanks to this spell card, I was able to return up to three monsters that have been removed from the game to the graveyard. And I only needed one."_ He slid a certain monster card in the graveyard slot.

* * *

As soon as Demise tried to swung his axe at him, Michael took out that one monster card from the graveyard, making the red armored warrior appear in front of him. _"Which means I had Necro Gardna in my graveyard, so I was prepared for your direct attack."_

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"Nice try, but no dice."

Shiori was stunned by this turn of events. Just when he thought the duel was over, Michael was one step ahead of him. After a moment, he smiled. "Wow Michael, that was impressive. I actually thought I got you there."

"Thank you. And to be honest, I was actually surprised by your monster's ability. You sure know how to strike your opponents real hard."

"And I wish I could strike you more. But I've got nothing left to do, so I'll end my turn."

"Then let's see how I'll get out of this." Michael announced as he drew a card. He looked at it and smirked. "Well Shiori, it's been fun. But I'm afraid this is the end."

"It is?" Shiori asked nervously.

"Yup, and I'll show you by doing this; Since I control no monsters, I can summon Kaiser Vorse Raider from my hand." An orc with blue skin and a studded double-sided axe appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1900** DEF: 1200 LV: 5)

Shiori raised an eyebrow. "You know that monster is too weak to take down my king, right."

"You are right. But my next monster isn't; I summon Doomsday Horror." First, a formless shadow appeared. And then, it took the form of a winged demon with glowing blue eyes. ( **ATK: ?** DEF: ? LV: 4)

"Undetermined?" The blond-haired Ra student asked, curious about the new monster's strength.

"That's right, and it's because of my monster's special ability. You see, his attack and defense points are the number of my dark attribute monsters that are removed from play and then multiplied by 300 points. And if my math is correct, there are 9 cards, which means my Doomsday Horror's attack and defense points are…" ( **ATK: ?-2700** DEF: ?-2700)

"2700!?"

"Aw man." Syrus gasped.

"That's totally a lot of points." Chumley gasped.

"More than enough to take down your Demise. Doomsday Horror, attack!" The shadow demon leapt up in the air and dove down at the skull-faced fiend, plowing through it.

 **Shiori: 1250-0950**

"Now, Kaiser Vorse Raider, attack him directly!" The brutish orc leapt forward and slashed Shiori with its axe, making him wince and fall down to his knees.

 **Shiori: 0950-0000**

The holograms disappeared, and it took the spectators for a moment before they applauded.

"Wow, that was a great duel." One student said.

"Awesome!" Another student added.

Shiori sat on the floor and looked up to see Michael approach him and hold out his hand.

"Do you need a hand?" He asked.

Shiori smiled and took his hand. "Thanks." He let Michael pull him up. "That was a great duel. You're really good."

"You're not so bad yourself. I almost thought you had me a few times." Michael replied while smiling back.

After they let go of each other, their friends approached.

"That was a sweet duel guys." Jaden said.

"No joke. Both of you did great." Alexis added.

"I actually couldn't tell which one of you was about to win." Andrew admitted.

"You guys were amazing. Well-played." Jenny praised.

"Thanks." The Ra and Obelisk boy said.

"And since Michael is the winner…" Andrew picked up the ritual card kept during the duel. "This card goes to him." He handed the card to him.

"Great." Michael said before turning to Shiori. "And you remember the deal, right?"

The ritual duelist nodded. "Of course I do. I lost, so I'll help you pay for that card."

* * *

And as promised, Shiori payed half of the money for the ritual card. After that, the group continued to look around for something else to buy. Eventually, the guys the shop with a few cards in their hands, and Shiori hummed a little happy.

"You seem to be in a good mood, Shiori." Jaden remarked.

"Well that's because of the cards I got. I may not have Garlandolf, but I got his counterpart." He replied while holding up a ritual monster card with the picture of a woman with hair pure as platinum and skin as pale as alabaster. she was wearing a dark purple dress, threaded with threads of gleaming red and gold and edged in red to match her long gloves. She was wielding a staff of gold, topped with an odd ornament.

"Wow. That card is sweet.

"And pretty, too." Syrus added while blushing a little due to the beauty of the woman in the picture.

"Garlandolf's counterpart, huh?" Andrew said. "That doesn't sound too bad."

"Got that right." The ritual duelist replied. "So this isn't a total loss."

"Well, I hope I get to see that monster in action someday. Maybe we can test that card in a duel someday." Jaden suggested.

"Sure, why not?"

"Alright! Then you better get your game on."

Andrew smiled at this. _'Well, I'm glad that everything was settled so well. Despite whoever won or lost, both duelists respect each other, and that's just the way like it.'_

* * *

 **A new year and a new chapter. I hope you liked it. Until next time.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Valentines Day Tag Team**

Another day at Duel Academy, and some people are taking easy today, mostly because it's weekend. However, today wasn't any regular day. Today is Valentines Day. The day of romance and romantic love. Therefore, the hallway had a bunch of heart-shaped decorations attached on the walls. Some students were chatting about what they're going to do with whoever they like. Andrew was walking in the hallway, along with Shiori.

"Sounds like many people are excited today." Andrew stated.

"Well, who wouldn't be? They are looking forward for the Valentines Day Festival, after all." Shiori replied.

"Guess they want to spend time with someone special they like."

The ritual duelist turned to his friend. "Speaking of which, do you have someone special in mind? Someone you would like to be with at the festival."

The masked hero duelist shook his head. "No."

Shiori gave him a teasing grin. "Are you sure about that?"

Andrew thought about it. He couldn't think of anyone. Except for one. A certain ponytailed girl. He almost blushed at the thought of that. But, he wasn't really sure how he felt about that someone, so he decided to shrug it off. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

The ritual duelist shrugged. "Okay, if you say so."

And with that, they kept walking, completely unaware of the slim, feminine, shadowy figure watching them from around the corner.

"Andrew Wilson. What a handsome boy. And I want him. Yes, today he'll be mine."

* * *

At the same time, Alexis and Jenny were walking in another part of the hallway, along with Jasmine and Mindy.

"I just love Valentines Day. The one day of the year when you give chocolate to a cute boy." Mindy said dreamily.

"Well, we got the whole day of flirting ahead of us. So we better start looking for potential dating candidates." Jasmine added.

Jenny and Alexis shook their heads.

"There they go again." Jenny said.

"Well, they were always like that, so what did you expect?" Alexis asked.

"That's true."

They kept walking for a while, until Alexis asked her blue-headed friend. "So, do you have something planned for the festival?"

Jenny looked at he curiously. "Nothing special, really. Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious. So, are you sure you don't have anything special planned?"

Jenny turned away to think for a moment. It was then a certain Ra Yellow boy popped in her mind, making her blush a bit. When she realized what she was thinking, she shook her head and turned to her friend again. "Yeah, I'm really sure."

Alexis smiled at her friend. She could tell that there was something more in Jenny's mind than she admit. But she decided to let it go. With that, the girls kept walking, unaware of someone watching them from around the corner. The figure was an Obelisk Blue boy with dark green hair and brown eyes and he was well built.

"Jenny, my lovely angel. Your beauty is unsurpassed." He said dreamily, before he clenched his hands in anger. "But then, that Andrew had to ruin my chance to be with her." And then, raised his right fist in the air, and looked up with his eyes with burning determination. "But this time, it will be different. Today Jenny will be mine."

* * *

 _Back to Andrew and_ Shiori

The two Ra Yellow boys were still walking around i the halls.

"What do you think the others are going to do?" Shiori asked.

"Who knows? I guess we'll find out when…" Andrew replied as he took a turn around the corner, when he suddenly bumped into someone.

"Ow!"

"Ow!"

He rubbed his forehead for a moment before he noticed the person in front of him.

"Oh, Jenny. I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

The girl in question rubbed her own forehead before glancing at Andrew. "Andrew. Don't worry I'm fine." Her female friends who were with her approached them.

"You alright, Jenny?" Jasmine asked.

"Yeah, don't worry."

Then, it was Shiori who approached them. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking." Andrew replied.

"So, what's going on?" Alexis asked.

"Nothing in particular. We were just wandering around until the festival gets started."

"Same here. We were just hanging around for a while." Jenny replied.

"Well, I'm looking forward to see how it's going to be." Andrew said. "And you?" He asked the fairy duelist.

"Oh, um, yeah, me too." Jenny stammered, a little red on her cheeks. And it was then, Andrew remembered what Shiori asked him earlier and blushed a little as well. The two of them didn't seem to notice Shiori grinning teasingly. Alexis seemed to smile at their state. As for Jasmine and Mindy, they gave them sly looks while covering their mouths with their hands.

After a moment of chatting, the groups went their separate ways. It was then, the girl stalking Andrew and Shiori stepped away from the corner. She had long, black hair with a part of it covering her left face and grey eyes. She was wearing the standard Obelisk Blue girl uniform. She was glaring at Jenny who walked away with her friends.

"Jenny Siegrain. I can't believe that she get Andrew's attention. I'm the one who deserve to be with him. I'd do anything to get her away from him."

"Anything, you say?" Someone asked from behind. The girl yelped before turning around to see who it was. It was the green haired Obelisk boy who followed Jenny's group.

She glared at him. "Where did you come from?"

"Don't you mind about that. More importantly, you are worried about Jenny getting Andrew for herself, right?"

The girl scowled. "And what does that matter to you?"

The boy smirked. "Well, I am also having some problem with romance. And the irony with my problem is that the one I want, is the girl who is getting in _your_ way."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "And your point is?"

"I have a plan to make sure that I get the girl in my dreams. And you can help me with that. And if the plan succeeds, not only I'll get the girl I want, but you'll get the boy you want. It's a win-win situation." He boy held up his hand, offering her a handshake. "So, what do you say?"

The girl didn't really trust this guy that much. But then again, this might be the only chance she had to win Andrew's heart. And if this guy really is interested in the obstacle named Jenny Siegrain, then she would give this a shot. She shook hands with him.

"Okay, I'm in. So, what's your plan?"

The Obelisk boy grinned evilly as he was about to set his plan in motion.

* * *

Later on, the Valentines Day Festival was in full swing in the main dueling arena. Just like in the hallway, there heart-shaped decorations on the walls. There were also a bunch of tables with some food standing around the dueling platform of the arena. Many students enjoyed the food while other students chatted with each other. Speaking of food, the Slifer student Jaden was standing at one of the tables and stuffed his mouth with anything edible he found.

"Man, this is great!" He said as he paused for a moment before stuffing himself even more.

Syrus and Chumley, who were with him, sweat dropped at his action.

"He better leave some for other people as well." Syrus said.

"Well, not that it would be very likely." Chumley replied.

Michael and Shiori, who were holding drinks, stood nearby and shook their heads at this.

"Geez, how much can Jaden even eat?" Michael wondered.

"It's almost like his stomach is a bottomless hole or something." Shiori added.

Andrew was standing somewhere else, enjoying a drink of his own.

"This festival isn't so bad." He said to himself while smiling, before taking a sip.

Just a few steps away from him, Jenny was standing behind him, with her own drink in her hands. She just stood there, staring at her cup in deep thought. Just standing there with him, on Valentines Day of all days, made her contemplate everything she went through with him. From when they first met, when he saved her from one of the shadow duelists in the abandoned dorm, and other things that happened. Good and bad things. While she thought about it, she could feel her heart beat faster than usual.

 _'What's with this feeling? Whenever I think about these things or when Andrew do something nice to me, I can't help but blush. It's not like I'm...'_ She paused as she glanced at Andrew. _'Andrew may be a good friend, but it feels like a part of me wants to be more than friends with him. I wonder how he's feeling?'_ Jenny stood there for a moment and before she knew it, she approached Andrew slowly.

Andrew slet out a delighted sigh as he finished his drink. It was then he noticed Jenny walking up to him. "What's up Jenny?"

The blue-headed girl was silent for a few seconds with a hesitant look on her face, then she spoke up. "W-well... I um…"

Andrew was a little confused by her state. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh... I um…" Jenny took a deep breath before she looked at him with determination in her eyes. "Andrew, there is something I would…"

"Get in line, sister!"

Both jumped due to the voice who surprised them. They turned to see an Obelisk Blue girl standing in front them with her hands placed on her hips and a smirk on her face. She had black hair with a part of it covering her left face and grey eyes.

"Um, who are you?" Andrew asked weirdly.

The girl approached him while giving him a seductive look. "Tracey Medina, an Obelisk Blue."

"Nice to meet you." He greeted. "I'm…"

"Andrew Wilson, I know who you are." Tracey said. "I've seen some of your duels. You are a skilled duelist, and cute too."

Andrew blushed a little. Jenny on the other hand, didn't like this.

"Um, thank you. If you don't mind, I'm talking to my friend here for a moment, so…"

"No no no." Tracey cut him off. "There is something I want to say that is more important than her."

Jenny started to get annoyed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The black-haired girl glared at her. "I'm not talking to you." She then turned to Andrew and smiled. "As I was saying, there is something I want to say." She paused for a moment, letting Andrew waiting patiently for her to speak up again. When she did, her next words was something really unexpected; "I want you to be my date for the day."

Both Andrew and Jenny widened her eyes by this. An Obelisk Blue girl, who Andrew hardly knew, asked him out for a date. Jenny was really shocked by this.

 _'Did she just ask him out for a date!?'_ She exclaimed in her mind.

As for Andrew, it took him for a moment before he recovered from his own shock and spoke up. "Um, I'm sorry, while I am flattered by your affection, we hardly know each other. Therefore, I have to say no."

His words made Jenny sigh in relief. Tracey on the other hand, wasn't pleased.

"That wasn't a question. I want you to be my date, and I won't let you get away that easily."

Jenny was now starting to get angry. "Can't you take a hint? Andrew said he doesn't want to be your date, so beat it and leave him alone."

"Why leave him alone with you, when you could have some fun with me?" A new voice spoke up from behind Tracey. Andrew and Jenny saw the person who spoke up. An Obelisk Blue boy with dark green hair and brown eyes. And this person was someone they recognized.

"Norman?" They both said.

"In the flesh." He replied with a smug look on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Andrew asked angrily.

"What do you think? I'm here to help Jenny come to her senses and be with me."

Now Jenny was getting really angry. "My senses!? You're the one who needs to come to your senses. I think it was made clear to you that I don't want to be with you."

"Come on now, Jenny dear, what is so wrong to spend some time with someone like me." The Obelisk boy asked he gave her a 'charming' smile.

Andre crossed his arms. "As I recall, you and I dueled each other and agreed that the loser would leave Jenny alone. And the one who lost, is you. So go away."

Those words just made Norman shrug. "That's too bad, cuz I was about to offer you a chance to make Tracey here leave you alone."

The Ra Yellow boy raised an eyebrow. "What are you plotting?"

"Not much. Just a way to settle this since you two are being stubborn."

Andrew, having an idea what Norman was about suggest, scoffed. "Are you suggesting that we settle this in a duel."

Norman gave him a determined smirk. "Yes, but it won't be a simple one on one duel."

"Huh?"

"It will be... a tag duel."

"What?" Andrew and Jenny said.

"That's right, me and Tracey vs you two. If you win, then we'll leave you alone. But, if we win…" Norman pointed at Jenny. "You will become my date."

The fairy duelist gasped at this.

"And the same thing applies to us, Andrew." Tracey said, addressing the boy in question.

"Are you serious?" The masked hero duelist asked.

"I think they are." Jenny said.

"What should we do?"

The blue-headed girl sighed. "This might be a pain, but I don't think we have a choice."

Andrew stared at her for a few seconds before nodding and turned to Norman and Tracey. "Okay, we accept your challenge."

The two stalkers smirked. "I thought so."

And so, the four duelists stepped on the dueling platform and took their positions. Many students were gathered around them, including Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Shiori and Michael.

"Look guys. It's Andrew and Jenny." Jaden said. "And they're going to duel."

"No way. A tag team duel?" Syrus asked.

"Looks like it." Chumley replied.

"And it looks their opponents are Norman and that girl, whoever she is." Shiori said.

"I think her name is Tracey." Michael said. "But I don't really know anything about her."

"Then maybe I can tell you what I know." Someone spoke up from behind. The group turned around to see who it was.

"Alexis?"

"Tracey is an Obelisk Blue student from second year, and she's using a burn deck, meaning that she's focusing on direct damage and using cards to stall for time."

"Wow! Sounds like a dangerous deck." The ritual duelist said.

"Well, I know that Norman has an obsession over Jenny, but why did he convince someone like her to team up with him in a tag duel?" Michael wondered.

Alexis crossed her arms. "From what I saw when they went up to the platform, Tracey was focusing on Andrew the whole time. My guess is she is obsessed over him and want to make him date her."

"So, if Andrew and Jenny loses, then they'll be forced to date with them?" Syrus asked, making the blonde-haired girl nod.

"Well, I'm not worried." Jaden said. "Andrew and Jenny are great duelists. With their decks combined, there's no way they can lose."

"I hope you're right." Michael replied.

* * *

Over on the platform, the duelists strapped on their duel disks and inserted their decks.

"Okay, this is it." Jenny said. "We better not lose."

"Don't worry." Andrew said, getting her attention. "I know we can win. I believe in your dueling skills. Do you believe in mine?"

Jenny widened her eyes of Andrew's belief in her skills. She then smiled. "I do. Let's do this."

"Are you two done yet?" Norman asked from the other side. "We want to end this quick, so I can have some fun with Jenny."

"And Andrew will be mine." Tracey added.

"Never gonna happen." Jenny scowled.

"Let's get this started." Andrew announced.

Everyone activated their duel disks and drew their opening hands.

"DUEL!"

 **Andrew & Jenny: 8000**

 **Norman & Tracey: 8000**

"I'll go first." Jenny announced as she drew her sixth card. "And I'll start by activating the field spell The Sanctuary in the Sky." The duelists found themselves at the familiar stone palace in the clouds. "Then I summon Radiant Jeral in defense mode." Appearing on her field was a creature that looked like some kind of statue made of emerald and glass. It had three eyes on the front of its head, and on its back was a pair of glowing white-feathered wings. Floating above and below its body were two large golden halos. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4) "I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." She concluded, inserting one card.

"I'll show you a real move." Tracey said while drawing a card. "First I summon Nurse Reficule the Fallen One." A woman appeared in front of her. She had long purple hair and bat-like wings on her back. She was covered from head to toe in bandages that were styled like a dress. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 600 LV: 4) "Then I activate the spell card Upstart Goblin. This lets me draw one card from my deck, then you gain 1000 life points." She drew a card and observed as the spell carrd unleashed a blue aura that surrounded her opponents.

"So she just give us some points just to draw a card?" Andrew wondered.

Jenny on the other hand grimaced. "No, this is a trick."

"Exactly." Tracey replied while smirking. "You see, with Reficule on my field, any life points you would gain are inflicted to you as damage, instead."

"No way!" Andrew exclaimed.

"Unleash your Anti-Cure!" The purple-haired woman held her palms and fired a beam of energy which caused the aura surrounding Jenny and Andrew turn red. They winced as their life points went down.

 **Andrew & Jenny: 8000-7000**

After recovering the assault, Jenny frowned. _'This is bad. That monster will be troublesome. Especially against my life point increasing strategies.'_ She glanced at her facedown card.

The second year Obelisk Blue girl noticed the look on Jenny's face and smirked deviously. "Oh, are you worried about your facedown card?"

Jenny gasped upon hearing her question that.

"Then let's see what you're hiding." Tracey held up another spell card. "I activate the spell card Bait Doll. With this I can flip up one facedown card, and if it happens to be a trap card, I can force its activation. And there's only one card available, so…"

Jenny watched in disbelief as her facedown card flipped up, and showed everyone what it was.

"Solemn Wishes." Andrew said, grimacing at where this is going.

"That trap card would normally increase Jenny's life points when she draw cards from her deck." Norman said.

"But that won't be the case, thanks to Reficule." Tracey said.

The fairy duelist glared at her.

"Don't worry, the sooner this duel ends, the less humiliation you will suffer. I end my turn with two facedown cards." Two card appeared behind the bat-winged woman.

"It's my turn." Andrew announced. "And I summon Elemental HERO Woodsman in defense mode." The wooden hero appeared and kneeled down in front of him. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4) "Next I play a facedown and end my turn." A card appeared behind the hero.

"Then it's my move." Norman drew a card and smirked at what he got. "I summon Shadowslayer in attack mode." A monster rose from the ground. It was a humanoid creature wearing a green outfit with a sword strapped on its back. It was holding a small, curved blade in its right hand. What made this creature creepy, was its head which happened to be the skull of an animal, like a horse or something. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 200 LV: 4) "And this monster has a special ability. If all monsters you have on the field are in defense mode, then he can attack you directly."

Andrew and Jenny gasped at this.

"And since I'm the last person to go, I can attack right now. Shadowslayer, attack!" The skull-headed monster dashed at the Woodsman and disappeared. Before Andrew could say anything, the monster appeared right in front him and slashed him with its blade.

 **Andrew & Jenny:** **7000-5600**

"Are you okay?" Jenny asked, worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Andrew assured her.

"Not for long." Norman said as he inserted two cards into his duel disk. "I place two cards and end my turn.

"Okay, now I…" Jenny said as she drew a card.

"Don't forget, Reficule will cause you to take damage instead of gaining life points." Tracey reminded her. "Which means your Solemn Wishes card will take away 500 points from you."

Jenny glared at her opponent as the trap card took effect.

 **Andrew & Jenny: 5600** **-5100**

"Aw man." Syrus groaned. "Andrew and Jenny are on a bad start here."

"How wouldn't they be? The duel has just started, and they already lost 2900 life points." Shiori pointed out.

"They need to get rid of that Reficule, or they will lose the rest of their life points in a few turns." Michael said.

"I know they can win. Just wait." Jaden said confidently.

Jenny looked at her hand. She glanced at one card in particular. _'Airknight Parshath. My plan was to summon him by sacrificing Radiant Jeral and increase my life points. But because of Tracey's monster, that is out of question. I need to get rid of it and I know how.'_ She took another card from her hand. "I summon Nova Summoner in attack mode." The orange circle-like creature with wings appeared in front of her. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 800 LV: 4) "Now attack her Reficule!" The Summoner's core glowed with a green light and fired a blast of energy at the bandaged woman.

"You just walked right into my trap." One of Tracey's facedown cards flipped up. "Magic Cylinder."

"Not that one." Andrew said.

"Oh, but it is. And due to its effect, the attack is sent back to your life points." Two cylinders appeared, one of them absorbing the attack. The blast came out of the other one and Jenny took a direct hit from it.

 **Andrew & Jenny: 5100-3700**

"Jenny." Andrew said worriedly.

"I'm fine." She assured him.

"Yeah right." Tracey scoffed. "This is your second turn, and you have already lost over half your life points. I've heard you were skilled, but so far, pretty lame. Even more reason that Andy should dump you."

"Andy!?" The boy in question asked as his eyes bulged outward.

"You don't even know him and you're treating him like your soulmate!?" Jenny screamed. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing's wrong. Just saying that you don't deserve someone like Andrew. Now, make your move."

Jenny was starting to get really annoyed by her.

"Cam down, Jenny." Andrew said, getting over the shock of the nickname Tracey gave him. "Don't listen to her. If we're going to defeat them, we need to stay calm, be rational. Let's show them what we can do." He said the last part with a smile.

Jenny took a deep breath and smiled back. "You're right. Let's do this." She then took a card from her hand. "I place one card facedown and end my turn.

"My move." Tracey drew a card. "I activate the spell card Pot of Greed. It lets me draw two cards. And then I summon Bowganian in defense mode." The monster that appeared next to Reficule was a green, spiky ball with one eye and a pair of arms. The creature was also carrying a crossbow and floated above an image of its card. (ATK: 1300 **DEF: 1000** LV: 3) "Then, I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." A card appeared behind Bowganian.

"My turn." Andrew drew a card. "I activate Woodsman's special ability. During my standby phase I can take a Polymerization from my deck…"

"And add it to your hand, right?" Tracey cut him off. "Sorry Andy, but I was prepared with this trap card." One of her facedown cards flipped up. "It's called Divine Wrath, and it lets me negate your monster's special ability and destroy it. All I have to do is discard one card from my hand." Tracey discarded one card from her hand and the trap card shot a stream of energy that destroyed the wooden hero.

"Not my Woodsman."

"And it gets worse. You see, the card I discarded was Burning Algae." A soon as those words left Tracey's mouth, the spirit of a tree with an ugly face appeared. Its branches were covered in flames instead of leaves. "When this card is sent to my graveyard, it would normally give my opponent 1000 extra life points."

"But because of Reficule's ability…" Andrew said.

"Those points will damage you instead. Go Anti-Cure!" The bandaged woman fired another beam of energy, causing damage to Andrew and Jenny's life points.

 **Andrew & Jenny: 3700-2700**

"Okay, then I'll go with plan B. I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman." The armored warrior with the burning head appeared. "Then I activate his special ability. Since he was summoned I can take a Polymerization from my deck and add it to my hand."

As Andrew searched through his deck, Tracey clicked her tongue upon her attempt to stop his fusion summoning failed.

"And now I'll use it to fuse Blazeman and Avian in my hand to form Elemental HERO Nova Master" The green hero with feather wings appeared and was absorbed into a fusion vortex along with the red armored warrior. And then, the red and orange armored fire hero appeared in their place. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: DEF: 2100 LV: 8) "Now Nova Master, destroy Reficule!" The fire hero started to form a fireball with his palms.

"Stop right there!" Norman called out. "I activate my trap card." One of his facedown cards flipped up. "Anti-Fusion Devise! In case you're too dumb to figure it out, this card lets me destroy a fusion monster on the field, like your Nova Master." A big, sphere-like capsule appeared. There was a glass dome on it that opened up and started a vacuum effect, trying to suck the fire hero in.

"Sorry, but you won't destroy my hero that easily." Andrew took a card from his hand and inserted it into his duel disk. "I activate the quick play spell card Form Change. With this card, I can take my HERO fusion monster back to my fusion deck and replace it with a Masked HERO with the same level as that monster." Nova Monster's entire body glowed brightly and started to change form. "I summon Masked HERO Dian!" The transformation was now complete and Nova Master was now standing on the field as the silver armored hero. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 3000 LV: 8) "And Nova Master was your original target, which means your trap card won't do anything.

The capsule stopped what it was doing and disappeared. Norman gave Andrew a glare. "Why you…"

"Now, let's try this again. Masked HERO Dian, attack Reficule!" The silver armored warrior dashed at the bandaged woman.

"I play my trap…" Tracey's facedown card flipped up. "Wall of Revealing Light! When this card is activated, I must pay a certain amount of my life points, and then, this trap card prevents you from attacking with monsters whose attack are lower or equal to the life points I paid. And I think 3000 points should be enough." And like the name suggested, the trap card created a wall made of light, blocking the attack.

 **Norman & Tracey: 8000-5000**

"And now, my Reficule is safe." She said triumphantly.

"Guess again." Jenny called out, getting everyone's attention. "I activate the trap card Trap Jammer." The trap card flipped up. "During the battle phase, I can use this to negate the activation of a trap card and destroy it."

"B-but then... that would mean…"

"Andrew's attack will get through." Jaden said.

"Awesome." Syrus cheered.

"That's more like it." Michael added.

Tracey's trap card shattered into pixels, making the wall of light disappear.

"Now Dian, strike her down!" The masked hero stabbed the bandaged woman, making her shatter into pixels.

Many people were confused by the fact that Norman and Tracey didn't take any damage.

"That's weird. Why didn't they lose any life points?" Jaden wondered.

"Did they use some kind of card effect or something?" Syrus added.

"No, it's the field spell." Alexis said.

"What do you mean?" Chumley asked.

"As you guys know, The Sanctuary of the Sky can protect the player from taking battle damage when their fairy type monsters are in battle." Michael explained. "Which means…"

"Reficule is a fairy type monster." Shiori filled in.

"So you got rid of that monster, but that didn't cause any damage to us." Norman sneered. "You just wasted your attack."

"Do you think so?" Andrew asked as the masked hero held up her sword in the air and caused a portal appear.

"What!? What's happening?" Tracey asked.

"This is Dian's special ability; when she destroys a monster in battle and sends it to the graveyard, I'm allowed to summon a level 4 or lower Elemental HERO directly from my deck."

"Are you kidding me? There's no way you can do that." Norman protested.

"Watch me." Dian lowered her sword and stepped back as a monster came out of it. The monster was a certain turbine winged hero. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 300 LV: 4)

"Stratos." Jenny said as she recognized it.

"Indeed it is. And since he was summoned, I can activate one of his abilities. And I choose the first one; for every other hero monster I control, he can destroy one spell or trap card on the field. So there goes for Norman's facedown card." The propellers on the hero's turbine wings rotated and and created a cyclone and forced Norman's card reveal itself before it was destroyed. "That was Bark of Dark Ruler. So if I attacked your Shadowslayer with Dian, you would have been able to reduce her attack points to zero by giving up some of your life points."

Norman growled.

"Whoa! That would have been really bad." Syrus commented.

"I actually wondered why he didn't attack Shadowslayer first." Shiori admitted.

"I guess Andrew suspected that Norman would do something to destroy his monster." Alexis said.

"No doubt about it. Way to go you guys!" Jaden cheered.

"Now Stratos, attack his Shadowslayer!" The turbine winged hero jumped over to Norman's field and punched the fiend type monster really hard.

 **Norman & Tracey: 5000-4600**

"I end my turn."

"Look what you've done!" Norman screamed while glaring at his partner. "Because of you, they are catching up on us."

"What!?" Tracey asked, feeling offended. "Don't blame me! That bimbo Jenny is the one who messed up with us!" That part earned her a glare from the latter.

"Don't you dare talk about her like that! You just stay out of my way." Norman drew a card and looked at his hand. _'Hmm. Not much to do, but better than nothing.'_  
"I play a monster in defense mode." A facedown in a sideway position appeared. "Then I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." Another card appeared.

"Wow, good move." Tracey commented sarcastically.

"Shut up!"

"Sorry to interrupt, but it's my move now." Jenny called out as she drew a card. "And with Reficule gone, I'll regain 500 life points thanks to… gyah!" She stopped at mid sentence when she was surrounded by a red aura that seemed to damage her.

 **Andrew & Jenny: 2700-2200**

"What? But Reficule is gone. So why did we still lose life points?" Andrew asked, being shocked by the loss of points.

"Take a look, Andy." Andrew and Jenny turned to Tracey who pointed at a face up trap card on her field. "I used my trap card Bad Reaction to Simochi. And as you probably guessed, this continuous trap card's effect is the same as Reficule."

"What!? Then they're back to square one." Syrus said.

"Not Lishus." Chumley added.

"Tracey knows how to make sure to damage her opponent's life points. This won't be easy." Alexis said.

"They're still in this. A duel is not over until the last card is played." Jaden said.

"Then let's see what they'll do." Michael added.

 _'Okay, so we're still not out of Tracey's life point damage strategy. But we can still win this if we play our cards right. And I know how to start.'_ Jenny looked at the card she drew before inserting it into her duel disk. "I play the spell card Magic Planter. This lets me send a continuous trap card from my field to the graveyard, like Solemn Wishes." The named card disappeared. "And then I can draw two cards from my deck." She looked at the cards she drew and smiled at what she got. "Next I place one card facedown. And now I sacrifice Nova Summoner in order to summon Airknight Parshath." Jenny's monnster disappeared and was replaced by the centaur fairy. ( **ATK: 1900** DEF: 1400 LV: 5) "Now Parshath, destroy Bowganian!" The Airknight galloped forward and raised his sword.

"I activate my trap card." Norman's facedown card flipped up. "It's called Shift, and this lets me change the target for your attack. So instead for Bowganian, your target will be my facedown monster." The trap card glowed and as if being attracted by the glow, the centaur galloped over to Norman's field and swung his sword, making the facedown monster flip up. The monster that was revealed was a writhing, disgusting giant single celled organism, the very living manifestation disease itself. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 100** LV: 2)

"Is that... Giant Germ?" Andrew asked.

"Looks like it." Jenny replied. "But right now, let's focus on Airknight Parshath's special ability. If he attacks a monster in defense mode, he'll cause damage equal to the difference between his attack points and the opposing monster's defense points." The Giant Germ was then slashed by the centaur's sword and exploded.

 **Norman & Tracey: 4600-2800**

"And since he caused some battle damage, I get to draw a card from my deck." Jenny explained while drawing a card.

"That's not the only thing you get." Norman said. "Since Giant Germ was destroyed in battle, its special ability activates, giving you 500 points of damage." And once again, Jenny was suffering by a red aura.

 **Andrew & Jenny: 2200-1700**

"And as a bonus, I'm allowed to summon up to 2 other Giant Germs from my deck." Two copies of the first germ appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 100 LV: 2) x 2

Jenny looked at the card she drew and inserted it into her duel disk. "I play another card facedown and end my turn.

"My turn." Tracey drew a card and smirked. "And now it's time to experience my Bowganian's special ability. During my standby phase, you'll take 600 points of damage." The one-eyed giant ball took aim at Jenny and shot her with its crossbow. The arrow went through her body, causing her to grunt by the damage.

 **Andrew & Jenny: 1700-1100**

"Then I'll place two cards facedown and end my turn." Two cards appeared behind her monster.

"Don't tell me that's all you can do." Norman scowled.

"Shut your mouth!" She snapped. "It's not like you did any better."

"What was that!?"

While the two Obelisks were bickering, Andrew and Jenny shook their heads.

"They may be tough duelists, but it seems that Norman forgot to add teamwork to his plan." Andrew said.

"All true. That's at least one advantage we have." Jenny added.

Andrew nodded before calling out to their opponents. "Excuse me!" They stopped their bickering and turned to him. "I wish to make my move, please. I don't have time for some fight." He then drew a card and looked at it.

"Don't worry, Andy. It's already over, thanks to my trap card…" Tracy's facedown card flipped up. "Just Desserts."

The spectators gasped at this.

"Oh no! That card can end this duel right now." Shiori said.

"This is not good." Michael added.

"What? What's with that card?" Syrus asked.

"Just Desserts is a nasty trap card." Alexis replied. "It gives the opponent 500 points of damage for every monster on their side of the field."

The blue-headed gasped in horror.

"And since this is a tag team duel, Andrew and Jenny are on the same side." Jaden said in realization. "Which means both Andrew and Jenny's monsters are included."

"Not lishus." Chumley commented.

"Let's see, there are two monsters on your field, two more monsters on that bimbo's field." Tracey counted. "So there are four monsters on your side, meaning you will take 2000 points of damage."

"Excellent." Norman said while grinning evilly. "With that amount of damage, this duel is over."

"And I'll have Andy for myself, just like you promised. Now Just Desserts, finish this!" The trap card fired a beam of energy that went straight toward Andrew. "Now you're mine!" Tracey said triumphantly.

Andrew closed just closed his eyes and smiled. "I think not."He said, making the opposing Obelisk girl confused. And then something surprising happened; The energy beam was blocked by an invisible wall, protecting Andrew from any harm.

"What!? What hell just happened!?"

Andrew opened his eyes and glanced at his partner. "How about you ask Jenny?"

Tracey came over her shock and turned to the fairy duelist and noticed a face up trap card on her field. "What's that?"

"It's a trap card known as Divine Punishment. It's a special counter trap that I can only use while I have The Sanctuary in the Sky in play. With this I can negate your spell, trap, or monster effect and destroy it. I could have used it on your Bowganian, but I had a feeling you would play something in an attempt to wipe out the rest of our life points in one turn. And it seems I was right."

Tracey glared at her. "How dare you?"

"How? Because I don't like when someone like you would try to force my friend to be your date, even after he said he's not interested." That caused Tracey to harden her glare. "And if you don't mind, I think he would like to make his move."

"Thank you. And I'll start by playing Pot of Greed, letting me draw two cards from my deck." He drew from his deck and smiled at what he got. "Then I activate the spell card Mask Change. And I'll use it to change my Stratos to a new hero." The turbine winged warrior was surrounded by a pillar of light. "I summon Masked HERO Blast!" The light faded and revealed a warrior clad in a green and black with a red gem in the middle of the chest plate and a golden belt around his waist. He was also wearing a red scarf around his neck. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF: 1800 LV: 6)

"Sweet! A new Masked HERO." Jaden commented.

"I wonder what that one can do." Michael said.

"When he's summoned, a monster loses half of its attack points, and I choose Bowganian." The new hero conjured a ball of green energy and threw it at the one-eyed creature, weakening its points. (ATK: 1300-650)

"Then I play another spell card, Enemy Controller." A giant video game controller with a cable appeared. "This card has two effects, and I can use one of them. I choose its first effect, which lets me change one of your monsters' battle mode, so I'll force your Bowganian to attack mode." The cable of the controller attached itself to the named monster. And then, some of the controller's buttons were automatically pressed in following order: A, down, left, B, left, up. After that, the image of Bowganian's card disappeared. "Then I activate my Blast's ability. By paying 500 life points, I can send one spell or trap card on the field back to its owner's hand.

 **Andrew & Jenny: 1100-0600**

"And I choose your facedown card, Tracey." The hero held up his palm and made her facedown card glow.

"Then I'll use it before that happens." Her facedown card flipped up. "I activate the trap card Threatening Roar. Due to its effect, you can't attack this turn."

Andrew widened his eyes before sighing. "Then I'll just end my turn."

"My move." Norman drew a card and glanced at it. He smirked. "This is just what I needed. It seems that our direct damage plan is not busted after all." He said triumphantly as held up the card he drew. "I play the spell card Rain of Mercy." A bunch of gray clouds appeared above the field. And then, it started to rain.

"Huh? What is this?" Jenny wondered.

"Don't you know? My spell card can give extra life points. In fact, its effect is to give both sides 1000 points."

Jenny gasped in horror. "But then…"

"That's right my dear. With Tracey's trap card in play, your points will be reduced instead."

"Finally! We won, Andy is mine." Tracey cheered.

Jenny couldn't help but look down in disbelief. Is this really the end? Is she really going to be forced to be Norman's date? Is this...

"This isn't over." Andrew spoke up, snapping Jenny out her thoughts.

"What are you talking about? You're about to take damage." Norman retorted.

"That's what you think. Masked HERO Blast, activate your special ability!" At his command, hero held up his palm again. And then, everyone noticed a certain card on the field glowing.

"Bad Reaction to Simochi?" Tracey asked. And it was then the trap card suddenly disappeared. "What the…?" And then, the card appeared in her hand. "What the hell happened?"

"This is my Blast's ability." Andrew replied, smirking. "You remember, don't you? I can send a spell or trap card back to the hand by paying 500 life points."

 **Andrew & Jenny: 0600-0100**

"What!?" Norman exclaimed angrily. "Are you saying that is some kind of effect that can be used during either player's turn?"

"That's right. So that means the damage we were supposed to take will increase our life points instead." True to Andrew's words, the rain caused a blue, healing aura surround both teams.

 **Andrew & Jenny: 0100-1100**

 **Norman & Tracey: 2800-3800**

"Sweet! They're still in this." Jaden said.

"For a moment there I thought it was over." Shiori said.

"Awesome!" Syrus cheered.

"They'd better keep this up." Alexis added.

Norman growled. "Okay, if that's how it's gonna be, then I'll just take down your hero pest. I sacrifice my two Giant Germs in order to summon Zoa." The two germs disappeared and a new monster rose up. It was a huge, blue-skinned demon with powerful limbs and yellow fangs. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 1900 LV: 7)

"2600 attack points." Andrew mused. "This one is tough. But at lest my Dian is stronger."

"Maybe, but that can be fixed later. You should worry about your other monster. Time to say goodbye to your Masked HERO Blast. Zoa, attack! Glimmer Strike!" The huge demon bent down and fired off a glowing X mark that flew toward Andrew's monster.

"I play my trap." Andrew announced as he revealed his facedown card. "Trap Hole of Spikes!" At that moment, Zoa's attack disappeared, and a giant hole materialized beneath its feet. ANd of course, it fell down and was destroyed.

"What!? What did you to my monster!?" Norman demanded.

"I used my trap card to stop him. With my Trap Hole of Spikes, I can destroy an attacking monster that was either normal or special summoned this turn."

"No way!"

"But that's not all." Andrew continued as he smirked. "You also take damage equal to half of that monster's original attack points."

Norman winced as he was surrounded by a dark, purple aura.

 **Norman & Tracey: 3800-2500**

"Nice move, Andrew." Jenny commented.

"Thanks."

Norman was now glaring hard. "Andrew Wilson, don't you ever quit?"

"No, I won't. Because I'll keep dueling until the very end." The masked hero duelist said determined.

"Yeah, you tell him." Jaden cheered.

"Keep fighting, you two!" Shiori cheered.

The fiend duelist started to get frustrated.

"Nice going, idiot." Tracey scowled.

"Shut up! Just shut your mouth and stay out of this! I play a spell card. Card of Demise. So now I can draw until I have 5 cards in my hand." Norman drew a new hand and looked at the cards he got. "This should do. First i activate the spell card Offerings to the Doomed. This card forces me to skip my next draw phase. But in return, I can destroy a monster on the field. So there goes for your Masked hero Blast." The green and black armored hero surrounded by a purple aura before shattering into pixels. "Then I'll play Monster Reborn in order to bring back Zoa." The blue-skinned demon rose up on the field once again. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 1900 LV: 8) "Then I activate the equip spell Pestilence. This card can only be equipped to a warrior, beast-warrior, or spellcaster type monster. So I'll add this card to Dian." As soon as the the spell card appeared, a dark, evil-looking ghost appeared and flew over to Andrew's field. The ghost entered the body of the silver armored hero, making her cry out in pain.

"What's happening?" Andrew asked.

"This is the curse of my Pestilence card. The attack points of the equipped monster are reduced to zero." ( **ATK: 2800-0** ) "There's more. During my standby phase, this card gives the controller of the equipped monster 500 points of damage. And then, I'll place one card facedown and equip my Zoa with the spell card Raregold Armor." A facedown card appeared on the field, and the spell card that appeared right next to it made the skin of the huge demon turn golden. "WIth this equip spell in play, my Zoa is the only monster you can attack, so don't even try. I end my turn."

Jenny bit her lower lip. _'That means we can't attack Bowganian before getting through him. What can I do?'_ She was about to draw a card but stopped herself.

"Hey, Jenny. Are you hesitating?" Andrew asked, getting her attention.

"Huh?"

"I know the situation is pretty bad, but there's no reason to hesitate. I know we can win this. You're one of the best duelists I ever seen, so I know you can turn this around. Because, like I said earlier, I believe in your dueling skills." He finished with a smile.

Jenny widened her eyes at those encouraging words. She then smiled softly. "Thanks Andrew. She then focused on the duel. "We can still win. I draw."

"You can't possibly win now." Tracey said smugly. "Remember, Bowganian will take away 600 of your life points on my next turn."

"And during my standby phase, my Pestilence card gives the controller of the equipped monster 500 points of damage." Norman added. "So be a dear and stand down."

"I don't think so." Jenny replied. "As a certain someone would say; I won't stand down until the last life points expires." That earned her a smile and nod from Andrew. "Besides…" She glanced at the card she drew. "This duel is over."

"What?" Norman asked.

"What do you mean by that!?" Tracey demanded.

"I'll show you, starting with this; I summon Fairy Archer in attack mode." The new monster was a fairy with yellow and red wings. She had red, short hair. Her outfit was a skirt made of leaves, a dark-blue body suit with light-blue frills, and light-blue gloves. She was holding a bow in one hand. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 600 LV: 3) "This monster has a special ability; in exchange for not attacking this turn, she can deal 400 points of damage for each light-attribute monster I control. So by including Fairy Archer herself, I got 3 light monsters, so you'll take 1200 points of damage." The fairy held up her free hand and borrowed some power from Airknight Parshath and Radiant Jeral to create an arrow made of light and shot the Obelisk girl on the opposing side of the field.

 **Norman & Tracey: 2500-1300**

Tracey grunted. "Is that all you got?" She asked angrily.

"No, this just the beginning. I activate the spell card Mystic Wok. With this, I can sacrifice a monster and add its attack or defense points to our life points. I choose to add Radiant Jeral's defense points to our life points." The emerald statue disappeared and Jenny was surrounded by a healing blue aura.

 **Andrew & Jenny: 1100-3100**

"But that's not all, Radiant Jeral's ability activates. With The Sanctuary in the Sky in play, it gives me a thousand more life points when it goes to the graveyard."

 **Andrew & Jenny: 3100-4100**

"Sweet! They regained some of their life points." Jaden said.

"They're going to need it in order to win." Alexis added.

"Now I'll play the last card in my hand." As Jenny held up said card, the centaur fairy started to glow brightly. "I sacrifice Airknight Parshath in order to summon Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin!" The light died down, and Airknight replaced by its stronger form, with shield and sword in hand. ( **ATK: 2300** DEF: 2000 LV: 7)

"That's the strongest monster in Jenny's deck." Michael pointed out.

"Really cool." Shiori added.

"Now when my Parshath has evolved, he will get even stronger. When The Sanctuary in the Sky is on the field, and if I, or rather _we_ , happen to have more life points than you, the difference is added to his attack and defense points." The majestic fairy glowed with a golden aura. ( **ATK: 2300-5100** DEF: 2000-4800)

Everyone gasped at its extra power.

"Sweet! With that many attack points, They can win this duel." Jaden said.

"Awesome! Way to play!" Syrus cheered.

"Yup, that's exactly what I would do." Chumley added.

"You don't say." Shiori replied while rolling his eyes.

"Well played, my dear Jenny." Norman complimented, before smirking. "But not good enough I'm afraid. Because you triggered my trap…" His facedown card flipped up. "Black Horn of Heaven."

"What does that do?" Andrew wondered.

"I'm glad you asked. I can only activate it when my opponent would special summon exactly 1 monster. I get to negate the summon and destroy the monster." A big, black horn with wings appeared and let out a trumpeting sound as it fired a beam of black energy.

"Not good. If Neo-Parshath gets destroyed, then Andrew and Jenny might not last long enough to win." Michael said worriedly.

"Come on." Shiori muttered.

The beam got closer to Jenny's fairy.

"Your monster is finished!" Norman said triumphantly.

But then...

"I play my trap card." Jenny announced as her facedown card flipped up. "Counter Counter!"

"What? What's with that card?" Norman asked.

"Well, it's just like the name suggests. I can use this counter trap in order to negate another counter trap, like your Black Horn of Heaven." The energy beam was blocked by Jenny's trap and the horn disappeared. "So there's nothing to stop my monster."

"No! Hang on a second!" Norman pleaded in a panicked manner.

"I don't think so. Neo-Parshath, attack! Destroy his Zoa with Celestial Judgement Blade" The super powered fairy raised his sword and swung it downward, creating a large arc of energy which destroyed Norman's fiend monster and struck him head on, causing him to fall down.

 **Norman & Tracey: 1300-0000**

The holograms disappeared, and the spectators cheered loudly.

"They won!" Syrus cheered.

"That was wicked!" Jaden said.

"Well done." Alexis said.

Andrew sighed in relief before turning to Jenny. "Nicely done, Jenny."

"Thanks. I'm just glad we won."

"I never doubted you for a sec. I knew you could lead us to victory."

Jenny smiled softly. "Thanks."

On the other side of the platform, the fallen opponents weren't so happy.

"I can't believe it." Tracey moaned as she slumped her shoulders. "I lost my chance to have a date with Andy."

As for Norman, he stomped toward her with an angry look on his face. "I demand an explanation, Tracey! You said the life point damage plan was fool proof. And yet, they managed to defeat us. What do you have to say?"

Tracey was really offended and gave him a glare. "Are you saying it's my fault? You said you knew everything we needed to know about their dueling styles. Besides, this whole thing was your idea, so don't blame me for _your_ plan being ruined."

Norman scoffed. "I guess the only mistake I made for this plan was teaming up with someone like you. I should have known that your deck was pathetic, just like your obsession over And… GYAH!" He stopped at mid sentence as he got kicked by Tracey. And the worst part of this was that she aimed at a certain area between his legs.

Everyone who saw this couldn't help but cringe at that.

"Aw man." Syrus said.

"That wasn't fun." Jaden added.

"Ouch." Michael grimaced.

"I know Norman is a jerk, but still…" Alexis said.

Norman fell to his knees and grunted uncomfortably while covering his crotch. Tracey huffed angrily before leaving the arena. Andrew and Jenny stepped off the platform and joined their friends.

"That was a great duel, guys." Shiori praised.

"You were amazing there." Michael added.

"I thought you were going to lose for a while." Syrus admitted.

"Yeah, but you two made a sweet comeback." Jaden said.

"Thanks. That duel wasn't easy." Andrew replied.

"I'm just glad it's over." Jenny added.

Everyone then heard a growling sound from Chumley's stomach. "Can we eat now?" Everyone laughed.

"Sure. There's a lot of food left." Jaden said as he went to grab some.

"Didn't he had enough?" Michael asked disbelieved.

"Apparently not." Syrus replied.

And so, they all rejoined the festivities. Jenny however remembered that she was trying to tell Andrew something important. She glanced at him, considering about telling him. But then she shook her head.

 _'Maybe this isn't the right time. I'll wait until I'm absolutely sure about how I feel.'_ She then smiled. _'Besides, I don't know how he feel, so there's no reason to push it.'_

Alexis noticed the look on her face and smiled herself.

* * *

 **And done. I'm sorry for taking a month to update my story. I just hope this chapter was worth the wait. Until next time.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Courting Jenny and Alexis**

It was another peaceful day at Duel Academy. For the moment, Jaden and Syrus were simply sitting on the benches in the gym, wearing shirts and shorts instead of their dorm uniforms. And they were waiting for the class to start. Meaning they were in time, which is something that didn't happen so often. And why...

"Wow. To think Professor Banner ended up in the nurse's office, just like that." Jaden said.

"It's not really surprising." Syrus replied. "I mean, it was really explosive…"

* * *

 **Flashback**

Many students, including Jaden and his friends, were sitting quietly, while Banner was lecturing them. He had a series vials with different types of liquids in them.

"And then, you just combine these to compounds, and the result will be delightful." He said as he tipped a substance from a small tube into a vial he held. But then...

BOOM

An explosion occurred, creating a cloud of smoke in the process. All students were startled by this before seeing the smoke clearing, revealing Banner leaning against the wall behind him. His whole body was smudged by the smoke. He coughed before falling on his back and passed out.

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"I know, right?" Jaden said. "Talk about ending things with a bang."

"You could say that again." Someone said from a distance. The two Slifer boys turned to see Andrew and Shiori approaching them, the latter being the one who spoke up.

"Hi guys." Jaden greeted. "I'm surprised to see you here early."

"You're one to talk." Shiori replied while snickering.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The brown-haired slifer asked as he was pouting.

"What he means is that you're the one who's usually late." Andrew replied.

"Hey, I'm not always late. Besides, you've been late sometimes as well."

"You mean like the time Ms. Dorothy needed some help with her van? Sure, I may have been late a few times as well, but that's mostly because I can't help it when I find someone who needs help. Other than that, I'm at least able to get up in time instead of oversleeping, like you would do."

"I would not."

"Yes, you would."

"Would not."

"Would too."

"Would not."

"Jaden, I think Andrew has an upper hand in this argument." Syrus told him. "You're always a heavy sleeper."

"Yeah, whatever." Jaden said, giving up on the argument.

They were interrupted when they were joined by a bunch of other students who'd decided to come the gym early. Among of them were Alexis, Jasmine and Mindy who walked up to them. "Hi guys." Alexis greeted them.

"Hey, what's up?" Jaden greeted back.

Andrew looked around the girl group and noticed that a certain someone was missing. "Where is Jenny?"

"Yeah, she's usually hanging around with you girls." Shiori added.

"She just needed to put away her hairpin, so she should be here soon."

"Okay." Andrew replied.

The group waited for a moment before they heard Jasmine and Mindy sighing. They turned to see them have dreamy look in their faces. To emphasize it, their eyes were replaced by love hearts.

"What's with them?" Jaden wondered.

"I think it has something to do with that guy over there." Syrus said while pointing at a direction. The group turned and saw another boy standing at the end of the gym.

He had black hair in a buzz cut and brown eyes, and the build of an athlete. He was also wearing the same kind of outfit as the other students and he seemed to be stretching.

"Who's that?" Jaden asked.

"I have no idea." Syrus replied.

"Same here." Andrew added.

"I think I know." Shiori said, getting everyone's attention, except for Jasmine and Mindy who were still staring at the boy who were stretching. "From what I've heard, that guy's name is Timothy Rosewood. He's a 3rd year student from Obelisk Blue, and also the captain of the baseball team."

"A baseball team captain?" Andrew said.

"Wow, that's cool." Jaden commented.

At that moment, Jenny entered the gym.

"Oh, there is Jenny." Andrew pointed out.

He and the group weren't the only ones who noticed her. The boy named Timothy glanced at her and it felt like time went in slow motion as he stared at her, feeling entranced by her beauty. Her light-blue hair, sapphire blue eyes, and slim figure.

 _'Oh, that's Jenny Seigrain. She's so_ _beautiful.'_ He thought as he approached her.

Jenny made a halt when Timothy came right in front of her. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, I just wanted to make acquaintance. My name is Timothy Rosewood. And you must be Jenny. A pleasure to meet you." He said while flashing her a smile.

"Yeah." Jenny replied, obviously unaffected by his 'charms'.

The others were watching this.

"Looks like Jenny got some attention." Jasmine commented.

"I wish that cutie gave me attention." Mindy added.

Andrew on the other hand watched this with an almost annoyed look on his face. _'Just great. Another guy bothering Jenny.'_

And the conversation between the two Obelisks continued.

"How about you and I learn to know each other? I'm pretty sure you want know me." Timothy said.

"I think I'll pass." Jenny said bluntly.

That only made the Obelisk boy laugh with his eyes closed. "Now, now. There's no reason to be shy. It's just some quality time with… me?" He opened his eyes to see that he was talking to thin air. "What? Where did you go?" He asked as he turned from left to right until he noticed Jenny walk over to her friends.

"Hey guys." Jenny greeted them.

"Hey Jenny. What was about that guy over there?" Andrew asked.

The fairy duelist sighed. "Just someone who wanted to know about me. Not that I'm interested."

"Are you kidding?" Jasmine asked. "That's Timothy Rosewood. A sportsman who is both rich and hot."

"Yeah. I mean just look at him. He's so worth going for." Mindy added.

Jenny raised a doubtful eyebrow as she looked at them. "Girls, I respect who you are, but this is one time I want you to keep your opinions for yourselves."

While they were talking, Timothy wasn't pleased. Why? Because among the people she was talking to, there was a certain Ra Yellow that got his attention. "Andrew Wilson. He was the one who teamed up with Jenny in that tag duel on Valentines Day. No way I'll let someone like him get her." He then stormed over to the group.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"

Everyone looked at the angry Obelisk as he approached them with a flaming aura around him.

"No Ra reject deserves to talk to Jenny. So stay away from her, Wilson, if you know what's best for you!"

"Whoa, what's up with you?" Andrew asked. "I'm just talking to my friend."

The Obelisk boy got into his face. "Friend, you say? Don't think I'll believe that. I know that you're trying to win Jenny's heart. Especially after that tag team duel on Valentines Day."

"Okay, it appears this guy has got some serious problems." Shiori stated.

"Not to mention he's weird." Jaden added.

"Listen pal. Jenny is way too good for someone like you, so stay in your league." Timothy said.

Andrew was now officially annoyed by him. "Maybe you should respect what she wants? Because obviously, she has no interest in you. Besides, Jenny is my friend, and you have no right to tell me to stay away from my friends."

"Oh is that so? Well then…" The Obelisk boy smirked. "Then let's settle this issue like men."

"And by that you mean…"

"I mean, we're going to duel."

Everyone gasped.

"That's right. You and I duel. The loser will stay away from Jenny."

"What? Seriously?" Syrus asked.

"Why me?" Jenny sighed in annoyance.

Andrew didn't really like involving Jenny in the stakes of a duel. Especially after his duel against Norman. But still… "Fine, I'll duel you. But only if Jenny agrees with the stakes first." He looked to Jenny for an answer.

"Just take him down." She told him.

"Don't worry, I will."

"We'll see about that." Timothy said as he and Andrew got their duel disks and positioned themselves for the duel.

"A duel against the baseball captain? Sweetness." Jaden said.

"I wonder if he duel like he plays baseball." Syrus added.

"Guess we're about to find out." Shiori replied.

"Well, Jenny. Looks like you got two cute boys fighting over you." Mindy said.

"I bet you feel excited, right?" Jasmine asked.

Jenny just huffed and folded her arms. "I told you to keep your opinions for yourselves.

The two duelists inserted their decks, activated their duel disks and drew their starting hands.

"Let's duel!"

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Timothy: 4000**

"The stars go first." Timothy declared as he drew his sixth card. "And I'll start by summoning Ultimate Baseball Kid in defense mode." A little boy wearing a red baseball outfit appeared, wielding a spiky, bluish bat. (ATK: 500 **DEF: 1000** LV: 3) "Then I'll end my turn with a facedown card." A card appeared behind the kid.

"Okay, so he is playing baseball cards, as expected, but that monster is weak." Syrus said.

Shiori rubbed his chin. "That's true. It's almost like he _wants_ Andrew to attack him."

"My move." Andrew drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman in attack mode." The flame headed, red armored hero appeared in front of him. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "And when this hero is summoned to the field, I can take a Polymerization from my deck and add it to my hand." He went through his deck and took the named card from it.

"Yeah? Well my Ultimate Baseball Kid has a special ability as well. For every other fire attribute monster on the field, he gains 1000 attack points." Timothy's monster glowed with a fiery red aura. (ATK: 500-1500)

"That's weird. With that many extra points, that baseball kid's attack strength is higher than Blazeman's. So why would Timothy play that in defense mode?" Jaden wondered.

"Good question. He must have a sort of plan." Jenny added.

Andrew looked at his hand. _'I could summon a fusion monster right away, but Timothy might want me to do that and surprise me with his facedown card. I'd better wait for the right moment.'_ He then turned to his monster. "Blazeman, attack! Destroy his Ultimate Baseball Kid" The fire hero dashed at the little boy and punched him, causing him to shatter into pixels. "I place one card facedown and end my turn." A card appeared behind the hero.

"Back to me then." Timothy announced and smirked when he saw the card he drew. _'Perfect. With this, my Jenny will definitely be impressed by me.'_  
"Alright, now I activate the trap card, Call of the Haunted." The named card flipped up. "Now I can summon a monster back from the graveyard. So guess who wants to say hi." The Ultimate Baseball Kid appeared on the field again. ( **ATK: 500** DEF: 1000 LV: 3)

"Him again, huh?" Andrew mused. "It's gonna take more than one baseball player to defeat me."

The Obelisk boy smirked. "You know what? I agree. What is baseball without a team of players. So I'm gonna complete _my_ team by playing this." He held up a spell card. "Inferno Reckless Summon. Since I summoned a monster with up to 1500 attack points, I'm allowed to summon all monsters with the same name as the one I summoned from my deck, hand, or graveyard. So it's time for you to meet my triple threat." And so, two more baseball kids joined the first one. ( **ATK: 500** DEF: 1000 LV: 3) x2

"Now there are three of them?" Syrus asked.

"That's right. And just like the first one, those two gets stronger as well. 1000 attack points for every other fire attribute monster." All three of them glowed with a fiery aura. ( **ATK: 500-3500** ) x3

The spectators gasped.

"Whoa! Three monsters 3500 attack points." Shiori said.

"This guy is not messing around." Alexis added.

"No kidding. If Andrew can't stop those guys, then he'll be out after three strikes." Jaden said jokingly.

"I hope you're ready, cause I'm about to knock you out of the park." Timothy said smugly. "Now, Ultimate Baseball Kid, attack!" One of the baseball kid held up one hand conjured a fireball. he threw it up and hit it with his bat, sending straight forward.

"I play my trap card. Waboku!" Andrew's facedown card flipped up and created a barrier which blocked the attack with ease. "Due to its effect, all battle damage become zero, and during this turn, my monster can't be destroyed in battle."

"So you were able to catch that one, huh? But don't get ahead of yourself. I play a facedown and let you go." Another card appeared on Timothy's field.

"Well, so far so good." Syrus said. "Andrew haven't lost any life points yet."

"Yeah, but Timothy has the upper hand." Jenny replied. "With three Ultimate Baseball Kids on his field, this won't be easy for Andrew."

"He'll be fine" Jaden reassured her.

Andrew drew a card and did something none of the spectators expected. "I activate Blazeman's special ability."

"What?" Jasmine asked.

"But I thought that monster only had one ability." Mindy added.

"Well, that's not the case." Andrew replied. "My Blazeman has a second ability and it works like this; Once per turn, I can take an Elemental HERO from my deck and send it to the graveyard. So I'll send my Bladedge to the graveyard." Andrew took the named card from his deck and let it slide into the graveyard slot.

"Did you just send a strong monster to the graveyard?" Timothy asked while laughing. "What a waste."

Andrew on the other hand smirked. "Not exactly. Because after doing that, then the real fun begins. Until the end of my turn, my Blazeman's attack and defense points, and attribute become the same as the monster I sent to the grave."

This revelation made everyone widen their eyes.

"Whoa! Seriously?" Shiori asked.

"Then Blazeman will have the same strength as Bladedge. Wicked!" Jaden commented.

It was then the spirit of the golden hero appeared, before entering Blazeman's body. And then, his armor started to change. Its red color turned slowly into dark brown. ( **ATK: 1200-2600** DEF: 1800)

"2600 attack points?" Timothy asked disbelieved.

"Yes, and as I said before, Blazeman's attribute is also changed. So he's no longer a fire attribute monster, but an earth attribute monster. And that means each one of your baseball kids loses 1000 points." ( **ATK: 3500-2500** ) x3

"Now Blazeman can destroy any of Timothy's monsters." Alexis said.

"Awesome!" Syrus cheered.

"Blazeman, attack!" The hero dashed forward and was about to smash one of the three baseball kids.

"Stop right there, pal." Timothy called out with a grin on his face. "You just triggered my trap card DNA Transplant." His facedown card flipped up.

"Uh oh." Shiori grimaced.

"What do you mean 'Uh oh'?" Jaden asked. "What's with that card?"

"If used properly, that trap card can be dangerous." Jenny replied, not being pleased by this either.

"My Jenny is catching on. That's right. What makes my trap card so dangerous in this situation, is that it makes all monsters on the field to have any attribute I choose."

Andrew gasped. "Don't tell me…"

"That's right. From now on, all monsters on the field are fire monsters." At that, Blazeman's armor turned back to red. "Which means my Ultimate Baseball Kids gets stronger." ( **ATK: 2500-3500** ) x3  
One of the baseball kids threw up another fireball and hit it with his bat. Blazeman got a direct hit by the fireball.

 **Andrew: 4000-3100** ( **ATK: 3500-2500** ) x3

"That wasn't fun." Syrus commented.

"Not even a little." Alexis added.

"So, how about you give up?" Timothy asked smugly.

"Not gonna happen." Andrew replied. "I play Polymerization and fuse Elemental HERO Shadow Mist and Sparkman together in order to summon Elemental HERO Escuridao." The dark armored woman and electric hero merged together and appeared on the field as the dark armored hero with shadow wings. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 2000 DEF: 8) "Thanks to her special ability, Escuridao gains 100 attack points for every Elemental HERO in my graveyard. So with 4 heroes in there, she gains 400 points." ( **ATK: 2500-2900** )

"You'll need to check your math, because with DNA Transplant on the field, your hero becomes a fire monster, making my star players stronger." The armor Escuridao was wearing turned from black to red, and her shadow wings transformed into wings made of flames. ( **ATK: 2500-3500** ) x3

"Aw man. Now they're back to 3500 attack points." Syrus said. "What was Andrew thinking?"

"Isn't it risky to summon a weaker monster in attack mode, facing monsters like those baseball kids?" Jasmine wondered.

"Maybe, but since Shadow Mist was sent to the graveyard, I can activate her special ability. I can take a HERO monster from my deck and add it to my hand." Andrew took the card he wanted from his deck. "And since I haven't normal summoned yet, I'll play it right now. Go, Elemental HERO Stratos!" The turbine winged hero rose next to his comrade and kneeled down. (ATK: 1800 **DEF: 300** LV: 4) "And with him summoned, I can use his special ability to destroy one spell or trap card for every other hero monster I control. Now Stratos, destroy his trap card!" The hero used his turbine wings and created a cyclone which destroyed Timothy's trap card.

"No! My DNA Transplant!"

"That's right. With that card gone, my monsters won't be fire monsters anymore." Escuridao changed back to her normal, shadowy self. "Which means your baseball kids loses some of their extra points again." ( **ATK: 3500-2500** ) "But since I already attacked, I'll just end my turn with two facedowns." Two cards appeared behind the hero monsters.

"Okay, you asked for it. First I play the spell card Pot of Greed, letting me draw twice." Timothy drew from his deck. "And now I summon Hinotama Soul." A fireball with a creepy face appeared. ( **ATK: 600** DEF: 500 LV: 2) "My little friend here is obviously a fire monster, so you know the drill." ( **ATK: 2500-3500** ) x3 "Now I'll have one of my Ultimate Baseball Kids destroy your Escuridao." One of them jumped up in the air and was about to smash the female hero with his spiked bat.

"I activate my trap…" One of Andrew's facedown cards flipped up. "Covering Fire!"

"What does that do?" The Obelisk boy wondered.

"When my opponent attacks one of my monsters, I can use this trap card to increase its attack strength."

"What!?"

"And to do that, I must choose another monster on my field. Since you're attacking Escuridao, I can only choose Stratos, so now she gains attack points equal to his attack points." The turbine hero stepped in and placed a hand on the female hero's shoulder to share his energy with her. ( **ATK: 2900-4700** )

"Wow! 4700 attack points." Jaden said.

"That's more like it!" Shiori cheered.

"Now Escuridao, counterattack!" The hero grabbed the baseball kid's bat with her left hand and used the claws on her right hand to slash him.

 **Timothy: 4000-2800**

"Since that battle is over, Escuridao loses her extra points." ( **ATK: 4700-2900** ) "But with one Ultimate Baseball Kid gone, the other two loses some points as well." ( **ATK: 3500-2500** ) x2

"Nicely played." Alexis praised.

"Good going Andrew." Jenny cheered on.

Timothy on the other hand was starting to get annoyed. "Okay, you'll regret that. Hinotama Soul, incinerate his Stratos now!" The fireball creature tackled the turbine winged hero, burning him to ashes.

"You just triggered my other trap card. Hero Signal." The named card revealed itself. "Now I can summon a level 4 or lower Elemental HERO from my hand or deck, and I choose Elemental HERO Flash." The blue and silver clad, electric hero rose up beside the dark female hero and kneeled down. (ATK: 1100 **DEF: 1600** LV: 4) "And with another Elemental HERO in my graveyard, Escuridao gets stronger." ( **ATK: 2900-3000** )

"Oh yeah? Well those points will be useless to you. I place two cards facedown and end my turn." Two cards appeared behind the baseball kids.

"My turn." Andrew drew a card. "Escuridao, attack his Hinotama Soul with Night Claw Slash!" The female hero flew forward and raised her right arm.

Timothy chuckled. "Such an amateur mistake. You overlooked my two facedown cards, one of them being this." One of his cards flipped up. "Gravity Bind. This trap card prevents all level 4 or above monsters from attacking." Escuridao stopped herself and returned to Andrew's field.

"I place two cards facedown and end my turn." Two cards appeared behind the hero monsters.

"My move." Timothy drew a card and smirked at it. "Well well. Looks like you're out of luck." He held up the card he drew. "Because now I play the spell card The Warrior Returning Alive. This lets me take a warrior type monster from my graveyard and add it to my hand. And there's only one monster in there, so guess who's coming back."

"No thanks." Andrew muttered.

"No?" Timothy asked as he took a certain card from his graveyard slot. "Then I'll tell you. It's none other than the one from my dream team; Ultimate Baseball Kid." The baseball kid from earlier reunited with the others. ( **ATK: 500** DEF: 1000 LV: 3) "And now it's time for a power up." ( **ATK: 500-3500** ) ( **ATK: 2500-3500** ) x2 "And why stop there, when I can make them even stronger with this card?" His other card flipped up, and apparently, that card was...

"DNA Transplant!?" Andrew exclaimed.

"What? Another one?" Syrus asked disbelieved.

"You got it. So now I can turn all monsters on the field into fire monsters again." Escuridao's armor turned red again, and the blue parts of Flash's armor turned red as well. "And you know what that means, don't you?" The three baseball kids were surrounded by a fiery red aura. ( **ATK: 3500-5500** ) x3

"5500 attack points!" Shiori exclaimed.

"Man, this doesn't look good." Jaden commented.

"Now it's time to put an end to all of this. Ultimate Baseball Kid number one, attack his Escuridao!" One of the baseball kids dashed forward and prepared to slam the female hero.

"I activate my trap, Elemental Recharge." One of Andrew's facedown cards flipped up. "This card gives me a thousand life points for every Elemental HERO on my side of the field. So with two heroes, that makes 2000 points."

 **Andrew: 3100-5100**

"You have to do better than that to stop me." The baseball kid smashed Escuridao with his spiked bat.

 **Andrew: 5100-2600** ( **ATK: 5500-4500** ) x3

"And now I'll attack your so called Flash with my second Baseball Kid." And true to Timothy's words, Andrew's hero was crushed by one of the triplets. ( **ATK: 4500-3500** ) x3

"You just triggered Flash's special ability. When he's destroyed in battle, I can remove him from play, along with three other Elemental Heroes from my graveyard." The three heroes that came out of Andrew's graveyard slot were Shadow Mist, Sparkman, and Bladedge. Andrew placed them in his pocket. "And after that, I'm allowed to take a normal spell card from my graveyard and add it to my hand. I choose Polymerization.

Timothy just chuckled. "That move was useless. After all, I only have one Ultimate Baseball Kid left, and one attack from him is all I need to keep you away from Jenny. Now let's end this. Ultimate Baseball Kid, attack!" The third kid conjured a fireball in his free hand and threw it in the air.

"Oh no!" Syrus cried out.

"Andrew!" Jenny called out.

"I activate my trap card. Fiendish Chain." As soon as Andrew's trap card revealed itself, a bunch of chains erupted from the ground and wrapped themselves around the baseball kid. And thus, he was unable to hit the fireball that landed on the ground.

"What!? What did you to my monster?" Timothy demanded.

"I used my Fiendish Chain card to stop him. It lets me choose an effect monster on the field, and as long as my trap card remains on the field, that monster's special abilities are negated." ( **ATK: 5500-500** ) "But more importantly, that monster is also unable to attack."

"Phew. That was close." Shiori sighed in relief.

"Sweet! Way to go Andrew!" Jaden cheered.

Timothy growled. "Annoying pest. I'll make you pay for that little stunt. Hinotama Soul, attack his life points!" The fire ball creature flew over to Andrew's side and made him suffer the heat.

 **Andrew: 2600-2000**

Once his monster returned, Timothy grinned. "Now I'll make you sweat, by using Ultimate Baseball Kid's second ability."

"Second ability?" Andrew parroted.

"That's right, and it works like this; by sacrificing a fire monster, except himself, he can deal 500 points of damage to you. So I'll sacrifice Hinotama Soul." One of the kids smashed the fire ball creature with his bat, causing to fly forward and collide Andrew.

 **Andrew: 2000-1500**

"That was unexpected." Andrew pointed out. "But since you gave up your monster, your baseball kids are weakened." ( **ATK: 3500-2500** ) x3

"I'm not worried. After all, I still have Gravity Bind, so you can't attack me, unless you have a level three or below monster. And even though you summoned a low level monster, it becomes a fire monster, thanks to DNA Transplant. Since you weakened one of my Baseball Kids, I'll switch him to defense mode." The monster in question kneeled down, despite being chained up.

"And as a cherry on the top, I'll play this." A spell card appeared in front of Timothy. "A feather of the Phoenix. This spell card lets me discard one card from my hand and in return, I can take a card from my graveyard and place it on the top of my deck. So I'll discard my last card in order to take back Hinotama Soul."

"But then..." Andrew said nervously.

The Obelisk boy smiled smugly while taking the named card from his graveyard slot and placed it on the top of his deck. "Looks like you've figured it out. On my next turn, my baseball kids will have enough power to take down any monster you'll play. And even if you would manage to survive my attacks, I will have enough fire monsters to use my baseball kid's ability and wipe you out. This duel is mine."

"Then it's over. No matter what Andrew do, he'll lose."

"Don't say that, Sy." Jaden replied. "He can still win this."

"Come on Andrew. I know you can do it." Jenny encouraged him.

Andrew smiled at her words. _'She's right. I can't give up yet. There's still a chance for me to win this. I just need the right card to turn this around.'_ He placed his hand on the deck. _'Here goes.'_ He drew a card and looked at it, before inserting it into his duel disk. "I activate the spell card Legacy of a Hero. With at least two level 4 or higher Elemental heroes in my graveyard, I can use this to draw three cards from my deck." Andrew drew three cards and smiled at what he got. "This is the end."

Timothy blinked before giving him a glare. "What are you talking about? What did you get?"

"I'll show you, starting with this…" Andrew held up a spell card. "I play A Hero Lives. Since I have no monsters on the field, I can use this spell card to summon a level 4 or lower Elemental HERO from my deck, as long as I pay half my life points."

 **Andrew: 1500-0750**

"I summon Elemental HERO Ocean." The aquatic hero appeared. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And then I summon Elemental HERO Woodsman." The wooden hero rose up beside his comrade. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 2000 LV: 4)

"What good would that do. My DNA Transplant turns them into fire monsters, making my monsters stronger." The skin of both heroes turned red. ( **ATK: 2500-4500** ) x2 "So you wasted your move."

"I'm not done yet. I play another spell card; Monster Reborn. Now I can summon a monster back from the graveyard, and I'll resurrect Elemental HERO Stratos." The turbine winged hero returned to the field. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 300 LV: 4) "And once again, I can activate his special ability. Now when I have two monsters on his side, Stratos can destroy two spell or trap cards on the field. There goes for Gravity Bind and DNA Transplant." The wind hero created another cyclone and blew away Timothy's trap cards.

"No, you can't!" He protested.

"I just did." Andrew's heroes turned back to normal. ( **ATK: 4500-2500** ) x2 "I have one card left to play." He held up a certain spell card. "Polymerization. And I'll use it to fuse Woodsman and Stratos in order to form Elemental HERO Gaia." The named heroes were sucked into a fusion vortex and reappeared in the form of the black armored giant. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF: 2600 LV: 6)

"Awesome!" Syrus cheered.

"Looks like this duel will end with a bang." Shiori added.

"That's right, because when Gaia is fusion summoned, he absorbs half the attack points of one of your monsters, making him even more powerful." The giant held up his palm and absorbed energy from one of Timothy's baseball kids. One with high attack points to be exact. ( **ATK: 2500-1250** ) ( **ATK: 2200-3450** ) "Let me show you what a real team can do. Elemental HERO Ocean, attack his defensive baseball kid." The aquatic hero stabbed the chained up baseball kid. "And with him gone, the other two gets weaker." ( **ATK: 2500-1500** ) ( **ATK: 1250-250** ) "Now to wrap this up. Gaia, attack! Destroy his weakest baseball kid with Continent Smash!" The giant hero raised his right arm and smashed the targeted baseball kid so hard that the ground shook, causing Timothy to fall down.

 **Timothy: 2800-0000**

"And he's out!" Shiori said.

"Nice one Andrew." Jenny cheered.

"No, this can't be. I lost." Timothy said.

"That's right." Andrew replied. "And since that's the case, you will leave Jenny alone."

The Obelisk boy suddenly burst into tears, got up and ran out of the gym. The others sweat dropped at seeing his emotional behavior.

"That was a sweet duel, Andrew." Jaden said. "What a smashing combo you made the end."

"Yeah, it was awesome." Syrus added.

"Thanks for getting him off my back." Jenny said.

"No problem." Andrew sighed. "But I have to admit though that dealing with crazy admirers and stalkers is starting to get annoying."

"Then maybe you can let me deal with them myself. I can take care of myself, you know." _'Especially since I owe you for helping me.'_ She thought.

"I guess I can. I might as well let you kick Norman's butt again." Andrew joked, earning a giggle from Jenny.

* * *

 _Speaking of Norman_

"ACHOO!"

The boy in question sneezed while changing in the boys locker room. He then looked around.

"Is someone talking about me?"

* * *

Later on, it was time for the gym class to start. And this is what Miss Fontaine had in store for the students...

"Alright class, get your game on... tennis game, that is."

That's right. Everyone was playing tennis. The students were split up in teams so they could play in pair. Andrew was teamed up with Shiori against Jenny and Alexis. They were even, but the girls seemed to be ahead of them.

"Phew. They're doing good." Shiori stated.

"It appears so. We'd better step up." Andrew replied, being the one who served the ball.

"Bring it on!" Jenny challenged them as she returned the ball to Shiori, and shot it to Alexis that went back to Andrew.

While the two Ra Yellow boys were keeping up with the Obelisk girls, Jaden and Syrus were teamed up against Jasmine and Mindy, and the Slifer boys were struggling to keep up with them. Mostly Syrus who seemed to struggle more than his partner.

"Come on. Will someone tell me what in the world tennis has to do with dueling?" Jaden asked.

"Everything." Mindy replied. "Taking turns, thinking on your feet, and the harder you play…" she paused hit the ball back to Jaden. "the better you'll do."

"Well in that case…" Jaden jumped high up and gave the ball a powerful smash. But because it was hit at a bad angle, it was sent towards the next court, in Alexis' direction. "Alexis, heads up!" He yelled as the ball was closing in on her face. Fortunately, someone jumped in and swatted it away from her.

Unfortunately, the ball got a new person as a target...

"That's Dr. Crowler…" The Obelisk Blue Headmaster was refereeing another match, when he noticed the projectile just before it smacked him in the right eye and knocked him down in the process.

The person who saved Alexis from the flying ball landed right in front of her. "Thank you." She said.

"Alexis!" Jasmine and Mindy came over to check on her. And so did Jenny. "That ball almost creamed you, are you okay?"

"Yeah, would you like me to carry you to the nurse?" The person asked as they turned around and flashed her a smile. The person appeared to be a boy with brown hair and eyes. He was wearing a tennis uniform with Duel Academy's logo. And because of his 'charming smile', Jasmine and Mindy looked at him the same way they looked at a certain boy Andrew dealt with earlier. Jenny simply shook her head at this.

"That's okay, thanks." Alexis replied politely.

Unknowingly, the boy stared at her with a bit blush on his cheeks. _'That's Alexis Rhodes.'_

"Umm. Do you need me to carry you to the nurse?" She asked after hearing no reply from him.

He gave a short laugh, slightly embarrassed. "No, I'm good. It's just, I know you from Obelisk Blue. I've seen you around. Not that I've ever had the pleasure of talking to you…" He said as he gently grasped her hand.

"Sweet." Alexis said not entirely certain about what he was doing.

The boy looked and realized what he was doing before letting go of her hand. "... let alone touch you." He added nervously. "Anyway." He laughed as he walked away. "Back to my match. What was the score? Love-something, I think."

Everyone just stared as he went off.

"Okay, that was weird." Jaden commented after joining the group. But then, something sent a chill down his spine. That something, or rather someone was a certain Obelisk Blue Headmaster who approached him from behind while gritting his teeth in anger.

* * *

And so, Jaden found himself in the nurse's office, along with Miss Fontaine and Dr. Crowler, with the former treating the latter's black eye.

"I'm really, really, really, really, really sorry." The Slifer student apologized. "How was that?"

"Nope. That's still not a good enough apology." Miss Fontaine turned Crowler's head in her direction. "A little harder next time, some of my vertebrae are still intact!" He said angrily.

"You know Dr. Crowler, I saw the incident and technically, Jaden wasn't even the one who hit you with that ball, if you don't mind me saying." Miss Fontaine stated while placing an ice bag on the angry doctor's black eye.

"Well I do mind, because Jaden was the one that started it! I saw the whole thing with my own two eyes!" Fontaine gasped at what he said. "Well, one eye." Then sweat dropped when he corrected himself.

(cough) "Cyclops." Jaden muttered.

"Hm? Care repeating that, you Slifer Sludge?" Crowler asked as he turned towards him.

"Look, if you're gonna punish me, how about I just promise to quit tennis? i don't even like it."

"Don't like tennis, eh?" Crowler asked as he got up and walked up to him. "Well, then I can think of no better punishment for your crime then. I'll make you play under the strict tutelage of our captain. He'll whip you into shape in no time."

"Come on! I said sorry!" Jaden repeated.

Crowler just got in his face and said… "Oh yes. And you will be."

* * *

In the girls' locker room, Alexis and Jenny were putting away their gym clothes after having changed back into their normal academy uniforms. "I can't believe Crowler took that accident out on Jaden like that." Alexis said.

"That's actually not surprising." Jenny replied. "He just want any excuse to punish him just because he's not an Obelisk."

"Hey girls!" The both turned to see Jasmine and Mindy, back in their academy uniforms, smiling.

"We found out who that hot tennis guy is for you." Mindy said.

"What are you talking about Mindy? I didn't ask you to find out who he was." Alexis replied.

"Yeah, yeah." Jasmine waved off. The girls left the locker room while talking.

"Anyway, he's a total catch." Mindy said as the group left the locker room.

"Now try to stay calm. His name his Harrington Rosewood, as in Rosewood Sporting Goods! And they've got stores everywhere! And him and his brother are the only heirs! Plus, he's a third year Obelisk Blue!"

"That's great." Alexis hardly sounded impressed.

"I suppose his brother was that guy who Andrew dueled earlier?" Jenny asked.

"That's him." Jasmine confirmed. "Too bad you two didn't have the chance to get close. He would've been a good one."

"I have no interest in him." Jenny replied almost annoyed.

That however earned a teasing smile from Jasmine. "So you would rather go out with Andrew?"

Jenny's turned almost completely red. "I-I didn't say that!"

"Okay, back to the subject." Mindy spoke up. "Harrington is an older guy who is both rich and a hottie. That's not great, Alexis. That's boyfriend material. So go on and get him."

"Girls. I'm just not looking for a boyfriend right now."

Jenny just smiled. _'Well I know who you will choose when you decide to.'_

Suddenly, they saw Syrus running past them, accompanied by Andrew and Shiori. "Aw man, aw man, aw man, aw man! Where's the lousy tennis team!" The blue-headed Slifer said, dashing back and forth across the hallway, before getting stopped by his two friends.

"Take it easy, Sy." Andrew said.

"Yeah. I know it's harsh, but it's not like it means the end of the world." Shiori added.

"Yeah, but…" Syrus started to say before hearing Jenny speak up.

"Hey, guys. What's going on?"

"Alexis, Jenny! Do you know where the tennis team meets?"

"Out on the court." Alexis replied. "What on earth is wrong?"

"What's wrong? Everything's wrong! It's the most unfair thing ever! Dr. Crowler's letting the tennis captain boss Jaden around as punishment for hitting him with that ball!" Syrus then ran off.

"How's that the most unfair thing ever?" Jasmine wondered.

"Because the captain's the guy who really hit Crowler." Shiori replied before he and Andrew ran after Syrus.

"Who's the captain?" Mindy wondered.

* * *

"Service!"

At the tennis court, Harrington was putting Jaden the major workout plan as he kept serving tennis balls at him with amazing speed. Despite his efforts, Jaden could hardly keep up and eventually sunk to his knees.

"I thought that we were gonna be... playing tennis, not... running speed drills." He said as he tried to catch his breath. Harrington started serving another salve of balls towards the exhausted Slifer. "Man, this guy doesn't let up." He got up and tried to hit them back, but tripped on a stray ball and fell down.

Harrington walked up to the net with a smirk on his face. "Come on Jaden, no pain, no gain. You've gotta hustle to build that muscle. You need to sweat to become a threat. If you don't pick up the pace, you won't win the race."

"Okay Harrington. You can lay off the sport clichés. I get it, I get it!"

"Hey, here's no letter 'I' in the word 'team' Jaden." He replied as he did his pose with his arm in the air. "That's the very first rule in tennis."

"Really? Even when you're playing singles?" Jaden asked.

"Moving on. It's time we go to work on your forehand and backhand." Harrington said, swinging his racket as he spoke. "I think a thousand strokes will help you make tennis more your racket. Get it? Get it?"

As all of this happened, Andrew, Syrus, Shiori, Jenny, Jasmine and Mindy were watching from the sidelines.

"I get it." Syrus said. "This guy's a nut. These clichés, this crazy practicing…"

"You know, he _is_ a bit obsessive." Jasmine admitted.

"Let him obsess... over me!" Mindy said, oblivious to the two statements.

"Poor Jaden. To deal with a crazy sportsman." Andrew said.

"He's even crazier than the one who bothered you." Shiori added.

Jenny simply nodded, agreeing with them.

Jaden continued the practice… "And done…" until one of his swings caused him to collapse on the ground and send the ball towards someone. "For the first ten." He said.

Mindy spotted the person who picked up the ball. "Hi Alexis!"

Hearing that name, Harrington turned around. "Alexis?" He saw the blonde walking in his general direction, and walked up to her. "Hey there. Sorry I'm sweating so much. Iv'e been kicking this guy's…" He stopped himself when he noticed her walking past him, totally ignoring his words.

She walked next to the brown haired Slifer. "Jaden, you won't believe what I just heard." She said, getting his attention. "I was on my way here and ran into Professor Banner. He told me someone spotted Chazz."

"No kidding. Well where is he?" He asked.

"So he really left the island, just like Banner said." Andrew said.

During the conversation, Harrington watched with the same anger and flame-like aura that a certain someone had earlier. "A bench warming loafer like Jaden talking to a girl like Alexis? No way! Time to run some interference!"

"HEY! TIME OUT!"

Everyone looked at the angry Obelisk boy as he walked over with the flame-like aura still surrounding him. "You can't talk to a first round prick like Alexis! I mean you can't even return a bucky-whip with some topspin, so stay away from my Obelisk Pixie!"

"Obelisk Pixie? Wonder what that would look like?" Syrus wondered as imagined a bunch of fairy-winged mini-versions of Obelisk the Tormentor. "On second thought, no I don't." He said, feeling disturbed of that thought.

"Just great, another weird sportsman with some serious problems." Shiori said.

"Not to mention he's a jerk." Jenny added.

"Guess that's some kind of family trait." Andrew commented.

"Listen Jaden, I'm warning you, just step away from that beautiful girl! You're way out of your league! Do not make me go athletic on you!" Harrington threatened.

"Whoa bro, cool off. Alexis and I were just talking here." Jaden said. "Now, you were saying Lex?"

Jaden jumped back when Harrington got right in the middle of them, facing the former. "Lex!? What is that, some kind of pet name!? Where'd it come from!? What's it mean? What's it short for!?" He fired off the questions on after another.

"Umm, Alexis." Jaden replied.

"Yup, that weirdness is definitely a family trait." Shiori commented, earning a nod from Andrew and Jenny.

"Sure. You'd like me to believe that, wouldn't you? Well I don't. I don't believe anything you say. Which is why this little huddle is over…" Harrington said.

"Great, so then beat it." Jaden replied.

"No way bro, know your sports. When a huddle is over, you make your play, you don't run away."

"I get it. You want a tennis match, right?"

"No way. I wanna duel. Winner becomes Alexis' fiancé."

"Whoa, fiancé, slow down" Alexis spoke up.

"Wait, did I hear it right?" Andrew asked.

"I'm pretty sure we all did." Shiori replied.

"This is stupid." Jenny said.

"I just love weddings!" Mindy squealed excitedly.

"Yeah, but I'm not so sure about arranged ones." Jasmine added.

"Well, I don't know about the stakes, but I never back down from a challenge. You got it Harrington, let's throw down!" Jaden announced.

"Huh?" Alexis said in surprise.

"I hope Jaden knows what he's doing." Syrus said.

"I think Jaden does." Andrew replied. "At least he knows what he's doing when dueling."

After a couple of minutes, Jaden and Harrington were now facing each other with their duel disks ready.

"Alright, you ready?" Harrington asked.

"Yep." Jaden replied. "And willing."

"Let's do this!"

 **Jaden: 4000**

 **Harrington: 4000**

"Get your game on!"

"Two cuties dueling it out for your hand in marriage, how do you feel?" Mindy asked.

Alexis crossed her arms and sighed. "Please Mindy, I'm not getting married."

"Oh fine, engaged. What, are we splitting hairs here?" Jasmine asked.

"I'm not getting engaged either Jaz!" Alexis snapped at her. "The only reason I haven't walked away out of this is because I wanted to see if the rumors are true. To see if Harrington's really as good as Zane."

"Those are the rumors?" Syrus asked. "Aw man, if Harrington's as good as my big brother, then he must not duel as he plays tennis, he must duel even better."

"Then let's hope that it's just rumors." Andrew said.

"Service!" Harrington announced as he drew a card. "First, I'm gonna volley a spell card at you. Service Ace!"

"A spell card already?" Jaden asked.

"You got that right, and just like a power serve, it's gonna make you sweat." Harrington replied before holding up of the cards from his hands and showing the back of it. "Here's how it works, I pick a card, then you have to choose if it's a spell, trap or monster. If you guess right, you're fine. But if you guess wrong, well then... you get served with a stinging 1500 points of damage."

"1500?" Andrew repeated.

"That's a lot of points from one spell card." Shiori added.

"So I just guess? Easy." Jaden said before squinting at the card while humming.

Everyone watched as Jaden took his time to figure the card his opponent was holding.

"Wow. This really is making Jaden sweat." Syrus realized.

"Yeah and hum too." Mindy added.

Jaden was still concentrating, making Harrington a little annoyed. "Look at you. I bet this is probably the best workout you had all week long." He jibbed

"Alright, I'll guess! It's a spell card."

Harington widened his eyes for a moment before giving him a small grin. "You sure? You can still change your mind, ya know."

Jaden became nervous. "Then wait! I'll switch my guess and say it's a trap."

The Obelisk boy laughed and turned the card around to reveal Mega Thunderball. "Monster. Looks like we found another thing you're bad at, huh." Jaden cringed at this. "Anyway, now we'll put this card away and let loose the big stroke. Service Ace! Good luck returning this shot pal!" The spell card glowed and let out a beam of light crashed at Jaden's feet.

 **Jaden: 4000-2500**

"15-love! And I'll place this card facedown to finish the set. Your serve." He concluded while placing a facedown card.

"Yeah and I'd better make it count. Here goes." Jaden drew a card. _'Decisions, decisions. Well, since he doesn't have any monsters out, I should probably just go for a direct attack, with my old friend…'_  
"Elemental HERO Avian!" The green clad and feather winged hero gave a cry as he appeared on his field. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1000 LV: 3) "Now Avian, show Harrington why you're the king of the court. Quill Cascade!" The hero spread his wings and fired a flurry of white feathers the Obelisk boy.

"Don't think so, bird brain! I activate Receive Ace." Harrington's facedown card flipped up. "This trap card negates your attack, then deals 1500 damage points directly to you. Good luck feathering this storm." A strong wind erupted from the trap card, allowing it to blow the feathers back to Jaden.

 **Jaden: 2500-1000**

"That's 30-love. Though I _do_ have to pay 3 cards because of the trap I played." He explained while sending his cards to the graveyard.

"Well I'm just gonna throw down a facedown." A card appeared on Jaden's field. "And that's it for me."

"Boy, you are lazy aren't you? Hey bro, that's fine! Makes it that much easier for me." Harrington played another spell card. "I play Smash Ace. It lets me flip the top card of my deck, and if it's a monster…"

"Lemme guess. I get nailed, right?"

"Hey, you're starting to get the swing of this, huh? And you will be getting swung at." He picked the top card and held up Mystical Shine Ball. "Oh yeah! A monster."

"Lady Luck, she hates me." Jaden tugged at his hair.

"Well, she loves me. Of course, most girls do."

"Oh spare me." Jenny rolled her eyes.

"And now, get ready for Smash Ace!" The spell card fired a ball of light that went straight towards Jaden.

"Sorry, but I'm activating my facedown card. It's a trap. Feather Wind." The card in question flipped up. "Ever heard of it, or maybe I should say have you ever caught the wind of it?"

"What the…?"

Jaden's hero flapped his wings, deflecting the projectile that was sent flying to the sidelines and exploded right in front of the spectators.

"No way!"

"Sorry pal, but your ace just got blown right out of the bounds." He pointed his thumb to his friends.

"Hey, watch where you're aiming, Jaden!" Shiori shouted.

"Well, you know what they say, you win some, you lose some. Sometimes you gotta take hits to give them." Harrington then started laughing.

"Great." Jaden moaned. "He's back on his cliché kick. Well here's mine, he who laughs last, laughs loudest." Jaden started laughing along.

Many of the students watching this sweat dropped at their laughing contest.

"This is pathetic." Syrus commented.

"You could say that again." Andrew replied.

"Now they're saying you can laugh the longest." Jasmine agreed as Alexis and Jenny nodded in silent agreement.

"Mindy on the other hand giggled. "Come on Harrington, just imagine me tickling you."

While the duelists were laughing, Harrington spoke up. "I'm still laughing Jaden. Just cause I'm talking, it doesn't mean I'm not, you hear me?"

Jaden didn't replied. He just kept laughing.

"Hey, I'm still laughing, I'm still laughing! You're gonna lose this contest, just like you're losing this duel."

Jaden stopped abruptly. "You know what Harrington? You can win this lousy laugh fest, but this duel's a different story. Sure, you may have home court advantage, but it doesn't matter. And do you wanna know why? Cuz in a duel, I'm always at home." Jaden drew a card. He looked at it. "Sweet! I'm playing this. Oh yeah! Polymerization, fuse Clayman and Burstinatrix into, the Elemental HERO Rampart Blaster!" The two monsters fused into the stone-armored female warrior. ( **ATK: 2000** DEF: 2500 LV: 6)

"Alright, that's how you duel Jaden! Nice work." Syrus said.

"Like that? Then you're gonna love this. Elemental HERO Avian, attack! Electric Orb!" The winged hero formed a sphere of energy in his hands and threw it at the tennis captain.

 **Harrington: 4000-3000**

"And I'm following it up with Rampart Blaster. Rampart Barrage!" The rock-armored woman shot a bunch of missiles from her launcher-like arm that landed and exploded around Harrington.

 **Harrington: 3000-1000**

"All tied up." Jaden said confidently.

"Way to go Jaden!" Syrus cheered.

"Well done!" Andrew added.

"Well, at least they stopped laughing." Alexis remarked.

"So, got any clichés to say now?

Harrington smirked while drawing a card. "I suppose. But, in this case, I'll let my card do my talking for me. See? This one says it all. Deuce." A spell card appeared on his field, showing a score board with '40' on each side.

"Another spell card?" Jaden scratched his cheek.

"That's right, but I guarantee you've never one like this before. I can only activate it when we both have 1000 life points. And here's how it works. From now on, each of us can only attack with one monster during our battle phase. And, life points don't matter. You win by being first to damage the other twice in a row."

"Wait so, it's just a straight up head to head match now?" Jaden asked.

"Right, I told you that card would say it all. I summon the Big Server." A human-like robot appeared on Harrington's field. It wore an orange t-shirt, dark shorts, a bandana and most of its right forearm was a tennis racket. ( **ATK: 300** DEF: 300 LV: 3) "The reason his serve is so big is because it strikes directly at your life points. Now, Big Server attack, with Spiked Serve!" The monster a metal spike ball in the air and hit it with its racket towards Jaden.

 **Jaden: 1000-0700 Times of damage: 1**

"Advantage, Harrington. That was easy. Now just one more strike, and you're finished. The duel will be over, and Alexis will be mine."

"Obsession seems to be another trait of the Rosewood family." Andrew commented.

"Couldn't agree more." Jenny added.

"Oh, and by the way, the Big Server has a special ability that lets me take Service Ace from my deck and place it in my hand. You get a new card too, but it won't matter. I mean, let's be real here, there's no way it'll be as good as this one. How could it be, now draw your card." Jaden did as he said. "Alright, and now, I'm serving up the spell card Service Ace. You remember how it works, right?" He held up a card. "You choose the card's type. If you're right, you're good..."

"Yeah, and if I'm wrong, I'm a goner." Jaden stated. _'Especially since that'll be two hits in a row.'_

 _'He only has a one in three chance.'_ Syrus thought.

 _'It all comes down to this. The game, the set, the match.'_ Alexis thought

 _'Hope I guess right.'_ "Alright, I guess you drew a monster card."

Harrington was surprised at Jaden's correct guess. " got it." He said while revealing another Mega Thunderball.

"Sweetness."

The spectators cheered. "Yeah! We're still in it!" Syrus said.

"Oh yeah? Tell me if you still think you're in it after this." Harrington held up a spell card. "I play Giant Racket and equip it to Big Server." A wide red racket attached itself to the tennis monster's back. "So, you're still in it?"

"To win it! I can take that server guy down."

"Maybe, but you won't be able to do it on your first try. See when a monster is equipped with Giant Racket, it has a one time power that allows it to turn any battle damage to zero."

"Wait and since your Deuce only allows me to attack with one monster per turn, I won't be able to destroy him. Big Server can't be beat by one attack."

"Exactly right. So as you can see, you're not in it. You're not all over it. You're just about to lose it. Hah!" Harrington said triumphantly.

 _'Not as long as there's cards in my deck.'_ "Here we go. Draw!" Jaden drew a card and looked at it. "Sweet!"

Harrington was now confused by his mood.

"The ball's in my court now. First, I activate the spell card De-Fusion. With it, I'll de-fuse Rampart Blaster back into Clayman and Burstinatrix." The fusion monster disappeared in a flash and was replaced by the stone hero and female fire hero. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 2000 LV: 4) ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 800 LV: 4) "Now I have three monsters on the field, which means even if you block my first attack, I can still hit you with two more, then you'll lose the duel."

Harrington laughed at Jaden's statement. "I'm starting to see why you're ranked as a Slifer, because you don't listen. As long as my spell card's out, you can only attack with one monster per turn. It doesn't matter if you have three."

"What's Jaden thinking?" Syrus asked.

"It must be something he's planning." Andrew replied. "Based on what he said about the number of monsters on his field, I bet that he's planning some kind of combo."

"Then let's what he's about to do." Jenny said.

"I'm starting to see why you're a snobby Obelisk." Jaden said.

"What?" Harrington asked.

"Cuz you really underestimate your opponents." The Slifer held up a spell card. "I play the spell card Feather Shot. It lets Avian attack once for every monster I have on the field."

"Looks like you were right." Shiori said to his fellow Ra student smiling.

"I drew this card when you activated the Big Server's effect. Remember what you said?

* * *

 _'You get a new card too, but it won't matter.'_

* * *

"Yeah, well guess what? It matters! Go Avian, attack with Quill Cascade, times three!" The winged hero flapped his wings and shot out a flurry of feathers towards Harrington's field which were blocked by Giant Racket. "That's one." Avian repeated his attack. And this time, Big Server wasn't able to block the second shower of feathers. He was easily destroyed. "That's two."

 **Harrington: 1000-0300 Times of damage: 1**

"And this third time will be the charm." The third shower of feathers caused Harrington to suffer the loss of the rest of his life points.

 **Harrington: 0300-0000 Times of damage 2 - Game Over**

Mindy sighed dreamily.

"Well, that settles that." Jasmine said.

"Alright! He's getting married!" Syrus cheered. "I mean, someday he will. Maybe?"

"Lexi." Mindy addressed her friend who chuckled a little.

Harrington fell to his knees. "This can't be."

"Yeah! That's game!" Jaden said as he did his usual victory pose.

Harrington's eyes were now overflowing with tears. "But she was my soulmate, my first draft pick, my marquis girlfriend!" He then got up and ran away in tears.

"Uhh." Jaden was left speechless from Harrington's emotional outburst.

"Haven't we seen that kind of reaction before?" Andrew asked.

"Déjà vu." Shiori replied.

"Wow ,you had to work for that one, Jaden." Syrus said as he approached his friend.

"Hey, no pain, no gain." Jaden replied.

"Speaking of gain, does that mean Jaden's gained a wife." Jasmine asked Mindy.

"So romantic." She said.

Jaden walked up to the blonde Obelisk girl. "Well Alexis, guess I'm you're fiancé."

"He's going through with it?" Syrus asked with widened eyes.

"Oh my!" Jasmine said.

"Seriously?" Jenny said.

Andrew, feeling unsure of this, walked up to them. "Are you sure Jaden? Do you even know what fiancé means?"

The latter scratched the back of his while thinking before giving his friend an answer. "Actually… no." He said dumbly.

Andrew face palmed while the others groaned at the statement.

Alexis on the other hand just closed her eyes and smiled. "It means 'friend'. At least for now big guy."

Jaden blinked before shrugging. "Then I guess we were already fiancés then. Well then, see ya guys." He then left the court, along with Syrus.

Andrew turned to Alexis. "You sure you don't want to tell him what it really means?"

"I don't think he would understand even after not caring about it so much." She replied.

"I guess that's a good point." The group then walked away. "I just hope we don't need to deal with any more crazy lover boys. I mean, Norman was bad enough."

* * *

"ACHOO!" Norman sneezed while resting on his bed. "Seriously, who's talking about me?" He asked annoyingly.

* * *

 **And that's all for now. Until next time.**


	20. Chapter 20

**A Flipping Ritual**

The sun was shining high and bright over Academy Island, making the water sparkle and the grass warm. The weather was perfectly peaceful. Over at the Slifer Red dorm, many of its residents were relaxing. In his own room, Matt Collins was at his desk and went through his deck.

"Okay, take this monster card away, replace it with this spell card and…" He mumbled while rearranging his deck. But then he frowned and leaned back. "Man, rebuilding my deck is so frustrating. It's so difficult to do something to improve it." He then hummed and crossed his arm, trying to come up with something. And then, a lightbulb went off in his mind as he opened his eyes. "Maybe it's time for little shopping." He gathered his cards and headed to a certain place in the academy building...

* * *

 _...The card shop_

Matt found himself there, looking through the shelfs, trying to find something useful. A few students were there as well. They were either looking around or chatting with each other. Matt hummed while looking at the booster packs in the shelfs.

"Let's see, what could be useful for my deck? It must be something that can benefit from my flip effect monsters. But what?" The purple-haired Slifer turned away and was about walk to the next shelf. But he only a couple of steps before bumping into someone and fell on the floor, landing on his butt. "Oww." He moaned while rubbing his butt.

"Oh, sorry. Are you okay?" The person asked.

"It's fine. I'm the one who didn't watched my step." He looked up to see the person in front of him. It was a certain Ra Yellow boy with chocolate brown eyes and light-blonde hair with his bangs covering his left eye.

"Here, let me help you." He held up a hand. Matt grabbed let the Ra boy help him up.

"Thanks." Matt said while dusting himself off. It was then he recognized the boy in front of him. "Oh, wait. I've seen you before. You're Shiori Koizumi, right?"

Shiori blinked. "Yeah, but how'd you know?

"Well, I've seen you duel before. Like the time you dueled Michael Kageyama. That was one of the greatest duels I've seen since I attended this school."

Shiori smiled. "Oh yeah. It really was a tough duel. Michael is one of the strongest duelists I know. The only person I know who ever defeated him was Andrew Wilson."

"I sure can imagine that, especially after he defeated me."

"You don't say." Shiori then realized something. "Oh um, what's you're name?"

"Whoops, where are my manners. I'm Matt Collins."

The ritual duelist widened his eyes. "Andrew told me about you. You're the flip effect duelist who challenged him. You put up a good fight from what he told me."

"Yup. that's me. Flipping Slifer extraordinaire. It was a very exciting duel. I thought I was prepared for him, but apparently not. Well, better luck next time. So, what brings you here?"

Shiori shrugged. "I'm just trying to find new cards to add to my deck."

"Oh, same here. I'm trying to find something very suitable for my deck, but I don't know what."

Shiori cupped his chin, thinking about the matter for a moment. He then snapped his fingers. "I think I have an idea. Come on." He walked over to another shelf.

Matt raised an eyebrow before following him. When they both reached the next shelf, Shiori pointed at a box full of booster packs.

"For someone like you, I think this might be just what you are looking for."

Matt glanced at the booster packs and couldn't help himself. "No way!" He exclaimed. Each one of the booster packs had a picture of a woman in a purple dress with a card pattern on it. The woman had six arms, four of them being mechanical. "The Prediction Princess series. It's one of the newest archetypes. This one in particular focuses on flip effect monsters."

"Which is why this might be exactly what you're looking for. These cards will definitely take your flip deck to a whole different level." Shiori replied.

Matt nodded in agreement and took a bunch of packs and went to pay for them.

* * *

A moment later, Shiori and Matt were sitting at a table and had their cards laid out before them. They went through their decks to see how to improve them with the new cards they got.

"Hey, this card could be great in your ritual deck." Matt said while pointing at a card on the table.

Shiori picked it up and looked at it for a moment before agreeing. "Yeah, you're right." Shiori placed it in his deck and then noticed another card on the table. "And maybe that one could be useful for you?"

Matt picked up the card in question and nodded after getting a good look at it. "Yup, this should do."

They were sitting in silence for a while, until Shiori decided to speak up. "Hey Matt, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"What is it?" The flip duelist asked.

"Well, from what Andrew told me, you scored pretty high in the entrance exams. You did good enough to become a Ra Yellow student, but decided to start from Slifer Red. According to Bastion, your reason could have been because you wanted to work your way up, but is there another reason for that?"

Matt blinked his eyes, clearly not expecting Shiori to ask about something like that. Regardless, he took a couple of seconds before answering him. "Why I started from Slifer, huh?" He shrugged. "Well, it's partly because I want to work my way up, but there is another reason I did that. You see, I've heard about how many of the students from the Obelisk Blue dorm treats the lower ranked students because of… well, the ranks. Acting proud and arrogantly because of being in the highest rank, thinking that would make them best. I really hate people like that." He shook his head while speaking. "So, the main reason why I chose to start as a Slifer instead of Ra is because I want to show them that your rank doesn't prove your skills. I want to show them that even the lower ranked duelists can be better."

Shiori widened his upon hearing such an answer, but then smiled. "I think I understand where you are coming from. The lower ranks _do_ have the potential to become great duelists. Jaden for example is a pretty skilled duelist, despite his grades. His duels against Crowler and Chazz are pretty much proof of that."

"I know, right? If someone like him can become a great duelist, anyone can." Matt proceeded to rearrange his deck until he was satisfied. "Well, I'm done."

"Same here." Shiori replied while finishing up everything with his deck.

"With that done…" Matt paused before taking up a duel disk. "How about you and I give our upgraded decks a spin?"

"Good idea. You're on." They both then headed to a place where they could duel each other.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jaden, Syrus and Andrew had just left the academy building and walked into the courtyard. The brown-haired Slifer boy seemed to be complaining.

"I can't believe I was forced to clean up the whole class room, just because I took a rest! Lousy Dr. Crowler."

"To be more specific, you were sleeping, as usual. Plus, you were snoring even louder this time." Andrew pointed out.

"Yeah, even other sleepy students became annoyed." Syrus added.

"Yeah, yeah." Jaden sighed. The boys were walking for a while. Eventually, the Ra Yellow dorm and it was then Jaden noticed something. "Hey, isn't that Shiori?" He pointed.

Syrus and Andrew looked at the direction he was pointing and indeed, Shiori was standing there, right in front of the building. They also noticed a duel disk strapped on his arm.

"It is Shiori." Syrus replied.

"And it looks like he's about to start a duel." Andrew added.

"Yeah, but who is he facing?" Jaden turned and saw the person standing on the opposite side. "Hey, it's Matt."

"The flip duelist?" The blue-headed midget asked.

"Well, that's interesting." Andrew commented. "Let's check it out." The boys then ran over to them.

* * *

Shiori and Matt had just activated their duel disks and drew their starting hands.

"Are you ready?" The ritual duelist asked.

"I'm ready when you are." The flip duelist replied.

"In that case…"

"Hey guys!" They both turned to see Jaden, Syrus and Andrew arrive at the sidelines, with the brown-haired Slifer being the one calling them out.

"Oh, what's up?" Shiori asked.

"Not much. Just wanted to watch your duel." Andrew replied.

"Fine by me." Matt said before turning to Shiori. "Shall we?"

"Yeah."

"DUEL!"

 **Shiori: 4000 Deck: 35**

 **Matt: 4000**

"I'll go first." Matt announced as he drew his sixth card. "I play one monster in defense mode." A facedown card appeared. "Then I'll play another card facedown and end my turn." Another facedown card appeared.

"Then it's my move." Shiori declared. ( **Deck: 35-34** ) "And I'll start by activating the spell card Unexpected Dai. Since I have no monsters on the field, I can summon a level 4 or below normal monster from my deck. I choose Alexandrite Dragon." The monster that appeared was a winged, majestic dragon with jewels embedded in its scales. ( **ATK: 2000** DEF: 100 LV: 4) ( **Deck: 34-33** ) "And for my normal summon, I play Dragon Zombie." Another dragon appeared. And just like the name suggested, this dragon had a purple, rotten body, making it zombie-like. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 0 LV: 3) "Now Dragon Zombie, attack his facedown monster! Deadly Zombie Breath!" The monster in question inhaled deeply and exhaled green smoke that surrounded Matt's facedown monster, making it flip up. The monster was a blue-skinned fiend that appeared to be headless, with a pair of horns at its shoulders. But it did have one big eye in the middle of its chest. (ATK: 650 **DEF: 500** LV: 2) Due to being exposed by the green smoke the monster was destroyed.

"You destroyed Hiro's Shadow Scout. And its flip effect forces you to draw three cards from your deck and show them to me." Matt explained. Shiori drew his three cards and showed them. All three of them turned out to be spell cards; Ascending Soul, Shinato's Ark and Black Illusion Ritual. ( **Deck: 33-30** ) "And here's the nasty part. You must discard every spell card you just drew."

Shiori widened his eyes. And so did the spectators.

"What? But all three of them are spell cards." Syrus pointed out.

"Looks like Shiori walked right into that one." Jaden added.

"Matt is certainly a tricky duelist." Andrew said.

The ritual duelist discarded his spell cards before making his next move. "Okay, you got me there. But with no monsters on your field, I can attack you directly with Alexandrite Dragon." The dragon flew up and swooped down towards Matt.

"I activate my trap card, Metal Reflect Slime." His facedown card flipped up. "When this card is activated, it gets summoned in defense mode." The creature that appeared was a silver-colored, slimy blob. Shiori's dragon stopped in time as the slime creature grew and shaped to look like a spiky ball. (ATK: 0 **DEF: 3000** LV: 10)

Alexandrite Dragon flew back to Shiori's field. "I place one card facedown and end my turn." A facedown card appeared behind the dragon.

"Alright then." Matt drew a card. "I play a monster in defense mode..." A facedown card appeared next to the slime monster. "And place one card facedown on the field." Another card appeared. "Your move."

"Here goes." ( **Deck: 30-29** ) Shiori looked at the card he just drew and smiled. "Just what I needed." He said, making Matt and the spectators curious. "I just drew the spell card Ancient Rules." The named card appeared in front of him. "With this, I can summon a level 5 or higher normal monster directly from my hand. So now I call to the field my Rabidragon!" And so, a third dragon appeared on Shiori's field. This one was, like the name suggested, the big, white dragon with a rabbit-like face. ( **ATK: 2950** DEF: 2900 LV: 8) "And now I'll have my Dragon Zombie attack your facedown monster. Deadly Zombie Breath!"

The zombie-like dragon exhaled some green smoke and forced Matt's facedown monster to flip up. The monster was a pink-skinned fairy with hair in a darker pink color and tied up to a pair of pigtails. It was wearing an unusual green hat and held up a golden coin. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 1400** LV: 3) The fairy was instantly destroyed by the smoke.

"This time, you attacked Prediction Princess Coinorma." Matt said. "And thanks to her flip effect, I'm allowed to take a level 3 or higher flip effect monster from my deck and summon it facedown on the field." Matt searched through his deck and held up the card he wanted. It had the picture of a woman in a blue and purple dress with a veil upon her face. She had long blue hair falling past her waist. (ATK: 1400 DEF: 2200 LV: 5) Matt placed the monster card facedown on the field. "Now then, what's next?"

Shiori hummed. _'If I attack that facedown monster, its flip effect will activate. Of course, if I don't attack it, Matt will most likely flip it up on his next turn. In that case, I think I'll just go for it.'_  
"Rabidragon, attack his facedown monster with Icy Breath!" The dragon inhaled deeply and then exhaled icy air upon the field. Before it reached Shiori's monster...

"I activate my trap, Compulsory Evacuation Device." Matt's facedown card flipped up. "With this card, I can send a monster on the field back to its owner's hand. So you can take back Rabidragon." The monster in question disappeared and the monster card returned to Shiori's hand."

"Wow. He just stopped one of the strongest normal monsters Shiori has." Jaden pointed out.

"This is getting worse for him." Syrus added.

"That doesn't seem to worry him though." Andrew stated. The two Slifers looked at him confused before they turned towards the ritual duelist. True to Andrew's words, Shiori did not appear to be worried. In fact, he was smirking with a confident look on his face.

"Not bad. I guess I'll just have to attack with another monster I have."

Matt raised an eyebrow. "What's the point? Your Alexandrite Dragon can't get through my defense."

"Who said I was planning to attack with my dragon?"

Matt widened his eyes at that question. "Huh?"

"I have a bigger plan in store for you, which includes my facedown card." The card Shiori referred to revealed itself. "It's a trap card known as Urgent Ritual Art. I can activate it when I don't have any ritual monster on my side of the field. First, it lets me take a ritual spell card from my hand or graveyard and remove it from play." One spell card in particular ejected from Shiori's duel disk before he held it up. "The card I choose is Shinato's Ark."

"And what do you get by removing it from play?" The flip duelist asked.

"Something like this…" Shiori's trap card glowed for a moment before its image changed. To everyone's surprise, the trap card had now the same image of the spell card that was removed from the graveyard. "After removing my spell card, the effect of my trap card becomes that card's effect. In order other words, Urgent Ritual Art lets me use the effect of my ritual spell card."

Matt couldn't help but gasp. "Unbelievable!"

"Activate Shinato's Ark"! A familiar, giant ark appeared right above Shiori's monsters. "Now I can sacrifice monsters with a total level of 8 or higher in order to summon my ritual monster. I only need one sacrifice, Rabidragon." The monster in question appeared on the field before the giant ark opened and absorbed it. "Now come forth, Shinato, King of a Higher Plane!" The ark opened again and out of it, came the blue-skinned man with golden wings. ( **ATK: 3300** DEF: 3000 LV: 8)

"He just summoned one of his best ritual monsters." Jaden said in amazement.

"I never thought he could use a trap card for a ritual summoning." Syrus commented.

"I guess it's safe to say anything is possible in Duel Monsters." Andrew added.

"Now I have a monster strong enough to take down any monster you have on the field. And I think I'll start with your facedown monster. Shinato, attack with Divine Ring!" The golden winged ritual monster created an energy ring that surrounded Matt's facedown monster, forcing it to flip up. The blue and purple dressed woman was now standing in a defensive position with an object in front of her. It was a golden pendulum-like stand with an amethyst crystal ball upon it. (ATK: 1400 **DEF: 2200** LV: 5) Regardless, the energy ring zapped the woman until she shattered into pixels.

"You triggered Prediction Princess Crystaldine's flip effect. Now I can take a ritual monster from my deck or graveyard and add it to my hand." Matt searched through his deck and took the ritual monster he was looking for.

"What? Matt has a ritual monster of his own?" Syrus asked.

"Looks like it. I can't wait to see what it can do." Jaden said.

"I think we'll find out soon." Andrew replied.

"My Shinato has a special ability as well." Shiori spoke up. "After he destroys a monster in defense mode, you take damage equal to its original attack points." The same energy ring surrounded Matt and zapped him.

 **Matt: 4000-2600**

"I place one card facedown and end my turn." A facedown card appeared behind the fairy type monster.

"My move." Matt drew a card and looked at it. _'Just what I needed.'_ He smirked. "Alright, it's time for me to fight fire with fire. Watch as I summon my own ritual monster."

Everyone were shocked.

"Whoa! Already?" Jaden asked.

"Aw man." Syrus said.

"So you already got it?" Shiori asked.

"That's right. I drew my ritual spell card…" Matt held up the card in question. "Prediction Ritual." As soon as the spell card was activated, a stone pillar with a magic circle engraved on the top rose up from the ground underneath Metal Reflect Slime. In center of the magic circle, was a coffin. "For this ritual summoning, I must sacrifice monsters with a total level of 9 or higher, and I think Metal Reflect Slime will do." The coffin opened a little and absorbed the slime creature. And then, after the coffin closed itself, the circle on the stone pillar glowed with a powerful, purple light. Everyone watched in awe as the magic circle created a pillar of light. "I summon Prediction Princess Tarotrei!" The stone pillar sank beneath the ground, letting a new monster stepping out from the light pillar. It was a giant woman with a long flowing, purple dress with black robes over her, adorned with golden accents. She bore six arms and a card pattern on her dress that was actually moving within its fabric. ( **ATK: 2700** DEF: 1200 LV: 9)

"Wow! That monster is impressive." Andrew commented.

"No kidding. Way to go, Matt!" Jaden cheered.

"But she's a little weaker than Shinato though." Syrus pointed out.

"Attack points aren't everything, Syrus." Andrew replied. "It's very possible that this new monster has a special ability."

"Now I place a facedown monster in defense mode." A card appeared next to the Prediction Princess. "And now to let you witness Tarotrei's power. You see, she has two special abilities and I can activate one of during either player's turn. And I choose the first one; During either player's turn, I can target a facedown monster on the field and flip it up into attack mode."

The spectators gasped at this.

"Then you…" The ritual duelist said, knowing already what this means.

"Yup, I'll use her ability to reveal my facedown monster." The card in question flipped up and summoned a monster to the field. It looked like a human figure wearing a black cloak, but if one were to look closely, they would notice the monster's skull-like face. The cloaked person was wielding a serpentine blade. The most interesting feature of this monster is that its arms were covered in blue flames. ( **ATK: 200** DEF: 500 LV: 3) "This monster is called Night Assailant, and he has a flip effect which allows me to destroy a monster on your field. There goes your Shinato." The assailant jumped over to Shiori's side of the field, but then suddenly disappeared. A moment later, Matt's monster appeared behind the ritual monster and backstabbed it, making it cry in pain before being destroyed.

"My Shinato is gone."

"Now to take down your Dragon Zombie. Now Tarotrei, attack with Tarot Fury!" The giant woman held up all of her six hands in the air and created a bunch of glowing tarot cards before sending them onto the undead dragon.

"I activate the trap card First-Aid Squad." Shiori's facedown card flipped up. "This card lets me take a normal monster from my graveyard and add it to my hand. So I'll take back Rabidragon." He took the named card from his graveyard slot and placed it in his hand. Regardless, Dragon Zombie was cut down to pieces by the tarot cards.

 **Shiori: 4000-2900**

"And now you only have Alexandrite Dragon on the field." Matt pointed out.

"Guess again." Shiori replied. And it was then a familiar trap card appeared from nowhere.

"First-Aid Squad?" Jaden said.

"Why did that card reappear?" Andrew wondered.

"Because of its second effect." Shiori replied. "When a normal monster is destroyed in battle, I'm allowed to summon this card in defense mode." And out of the trap card, four people appeared. All of them were wearing what appeared to be some kind of blue and white first-aid outfit. One of them was a muscular man with light-brown hair and a beard. The other three people were women. The first one was dark-skinned with black hair. The second one had lighter skin and dark grey hair. The third one had light skin like the second woman, but had blonde hair. (ATK: 1200 **DEF: 400** LV: 3)

"So Shiori got a trap monster of his own?" Syrus asked.

"It appears so." Andrew replied.

"Well, I didn't expect that." Matt admitted. "Let's see what you're going to do with that after I place this card facedown." A card appeared behind Night Assailant. But then, Matt snapped his fingers. "Oops, I almost forgot. Tarotrei has another special ability. During my end phase, I'm allowed to take a flip effect monster from my hand or graveyard and place it facedown." He took a monster card from his graveyard and showed it to Shiori. "And I choose Prediction Princess Coinorma."

"No way. That means he can bring out another flip effect monster." Jaden said.

"Yeah. It looks like Matt's new monster is able to maximize his flip effects. This duel will be tough for Shiori." Andrew added.

"I draw." ( **Deck: 29-28** ) "I activate the spell card Trade-In. By discarding a level 8 monster, like Rabidragon, I can draw two more cards." After discarding the named monster card, Shiori drew two new cards and looked at them. ( **Deck: 28-26** ) "This will do. First I activate the spell card Ritual Cage." The continuous spell card appeared. "Next, I'll activate the spell card Fulfillment of the Contract. By paying 800 life points, I can summon a ritual monster from my graveyard. So welcome back, Shinato." The blue-skinned angel appeared on the field again. ( **ATK: 3300** DEF: 3000 LV: 8)

 **Shiori: 2900-2100**

"And now when I have Ritual Cage on the field, my ritual monsters can't be targeted or destroyed by monster effects. Also, all battle damage I take from their battles become zero."

Matt clicked his tongue. _'That will be a problem.'_

"Now Shinato, attack his Tarotrei with Divine Ring!" The blue-skinned man created another energy ring and threw it at the giant woman.

 _'Okay, guess I'll just go with plan B.'_  
"I activate the trap card Gravity Bind." Matt's trap card revealed itself.

"I've seen that card before." Shiori said. "It prevents all level 4 or above monsters from attacking."

Matt nodded while smirking. "Which means your attack is cancelled out." Before the Divine Ring could reach Matt's field, the continuous trap card glowed. And at the next moment, the energy ring was sent to the ground by a gravitational force and exploded.

"Aw man. Shiori's attack was easily stopped." Syrus said.

"And to think he's facing the same trap card as Andrew." Jaden added.

"And it's pretty much obvious that Gravity Bind is used to protect the flip effect monsters." Andrew said. "Which means Matt can use their effects with a smaller risk of them getting destroyed."

Shiori sighed. "I end my turn."

"Okay then." Matt drew a card. "Now I activate one of Tarotrei's abilities. During either player's turn, I can target a face up monster on the field and change it to face down defense mode. And since your Shinato can't be affected, I choose Alexandrite Dragon." The dragon glowed and disappeared, before being replaced by a facedown card. "And then, I reveal my Prediction Princess Coinorma." The little fairy appeared again. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 1400 LV: 3) "And now I'll use her flip effect to summon another level 3 or higher flip effect monster facedown." A facedown card appeared next to the little fairy. "And as I recall, your dragon has only 100 defense points, and that will make it an easy target for Night Assailant. Now attack!" The cloaked monster leapt in the air and landed right in front of the facedown monster, before cutting it in half with his blade. "Next I'll attack your First-Aid Squad with Coinorma." The fairy's golden coin glowed before she threw it like a frisbee, making it cut the First-Aid Squad in half. After they were destroyed, the coin returned to her. "And with that, I'll end my turn."

"I draw." ( **Deck: 26-25** ) "I summon Armored Zombie in attack mode." The zombie warrior rose up on the field. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 0 LV: 3) "Since he's a level 3 monster, he won't be affected by your trap card. Now attack his Coinorma!" The zombie ran towards the little fairy.

"Have you forgotten, Shiori?" Matt asked. "My Tarotrei has two certain abilities, and I can activate one of them."

"Let me guess, you're going to flip down your Coinorma so my attack will trigger her flip effect?"

The flip duelist however smirked. "Actually, I'm going to use the other ability, and flip up my facedown monster into attack mode." The tarot cards within the fabric of Tarotrei's dress glowed brightly, making the facedown card in question glow as well, before it flipped up. The new monster that appeared was a purple skinned elf wearing a floral garb. ( **ATK. 800** DEF: 700 LV: 3) "Say hello to Prediction Princess Petalelf."

"Another Prediction Princess, huh?" Andrew mused.

"She looks kinda pretty." Syrus commented with a small blush on his face. Andrew couldn't help but give the smaller Slifer a weird look.

"She's got more than beauty." Matt replied. "Thanks to her flip effect, any monster on my opponent's field is forced to switch from attack to defense mode. And since Ritual Cage prevents ritual monsters from being targeted or destroyed by monster effects, and nothing more, that means Shinato will fall for her ability as well." The blue-skinned angel kneeled down and crossed his arms, while Armored Zombie made a halt and kneeled down as well. "And by the way, any monster being affected by Petalelf's ability cannot change their battle mode, so both of your monsters are stuck."

Shiori widened his eyes for a moment before smiling. "Never thought you would get around my Ritual Cage. It seems your new cards are working really good in your deck."

"I know, right? These cards gives me a bunch of new opportunities for my flip monsters. So, how about we continue?"

The ritual duelist nodded. "Okay, I'll just end my turn."

"Fine by me." Matt looked at the card he drew and smirked. _'This might work.'_  
"First I'll place a facedown monster in defense mode." A facedown card appeared. "Then I'll use Tarotrei's ability and switch Petalelf back into defense mode." The named monster was replaced by another facedown card. "That's it for now."

"I draw." ( **Deck: 25-24** ) Shiori glanced at his new card. _'Demise, King of Armageddon. This monster is just what I need to turn this around. The only problem is I don't have my ritual spell card. At least not yet. I just hope I can keep myself in the game until I draw it.'  
_ "I pass."

"In that case…" Matt drew a card. "I think it's time to show you my new way to win a duel."

Shiori blinked at this. And so did the spectators.

"A new way to win a duel?" Syrus asked.

"What could it be?" Jaden wondered.

"Let's see what happens." Andrew said.

"So what are you up to now?" Shiori asked.

"Well, this is what I have in mind. You see, my original plan was to use the combined power of Tarotrei and Night Assailant to take down your monsters until you became wide open for direct attacks. However, since you played the Ritual Cage to give your ritual monster protection, I was forced to use my Gravity Bind to keep you from attacking me. Of course, it prevents me from attacking you as well. But…" Matt smirked while speaking. "Since you can't attack, you might have trouble to stop my newest plan. And that plan requires my latest facedown monster. Now, let me show you who I invited." The facedown card he mentioned flipped up, revealing a monster that looked like a purple worm with large spike protruding from its head and side. ( **ATK: 750** DEF: 600 LV: 2)

"Huh? A bug?" Syrus asked while raising an eyebrow.

Jaden did the same. "What's with that?"

Andrew on the other looked serious. "It's pretty obvious that it's a monster with a flip effect."

Matt nodded. "Yes, and this one won't be fun for Shiori. Because this monster is Needle Worm, and its flip effect allows me to send 5 cards from the top of my opponents deck to the graveyard."

Everyone gasped. It was starting to be clear now. Shiori especially understood this. "So instead of damaging my life points, you will try to get rid of my cards instead."

"That's right. If I can't bring your life points down to zero, I'll just try to wipe your deck clean."

Shiori scratched the back of his head. "Man, this isn't good." He then was forced to take the top 5 cards from his deck and slide them into his graveyard slot. He frowned as he noticed that most of those cards were ritual monsters and spell cards. _'My ritual cards...'_ He thought. ( **Deck: 24-19** )

"Now then, I'll use Tarotrei's ability to flip my Needle Worm back into defense mode." The purple worm was replaced by a facedown card. "And with that, I'll end my turn."

"Now then." Shiori drew another card. ( **Deck: 19-18** ) And frowned when he saw what it was. _'Synthesis Spell. If only I had Lycanthrope in my hand, I could use this spell. But so far, I'm not so lucky.'_  
"I end my turn."

"Why isn't Shiori doing anything?" Syrus wondered.

"It looks to me that he can't do anything at all." Andrew replied. "But, based on the situation, it's not surprising."

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean it's over. After all, a duel is not over until the last card is played." Jaden said enthusiastic.

Andrew nodded. "Then let's see which one of them will play the last one."

"I draw..." Matt announced. "And summon Needle Worm." The facedown card flipped up and revealed the purple worm again. "And you know what to do, right?"

Shiori nodded as he drew 5 cards from his deck and sent them to the graveyard. ( **Deck: 18-13** ) He carefully observed every card he lost. _'Good. I didn't lose any of the cards I needed.'_

"Now I'll use Tarotrei's ability and flip Needle Worm back into defense mode to end my turn." Needle Worm turned back into a facedown card.

Shiori drew another card. ( **Deck: 13-12** ) This time, he got Tri-Horned Dragon. _No, this isn't the one I want.'_  
"Pass."

"Then it's my turn." The flip duelist said. "Once again, I flip up Needle Worm to trigger its effect." The named monster appeared again.

Shiori sent another 5 cards from his deck to the graveyard. He widened his eyes when he noticed one card in particular. _'Oh no! That was my End of the World card.'_ ( **Deck: 12-7** )

"And once again, I'll use Tarotrei's ability again." Needle worm became a facedown card once more. "And now I'll place one card facedown." Another card appeared. It's your turn."

"Okay." Shiori looked at his deck. _'I'm almost out of cards. So here goes.'_ He drew his next card. ( **Deck: 7-6** ) Before he got a chance to look at it however...

"I activate Tarotrei's ability, and flip Needle Worm into attack mode." The named monster appeared yet again.

Shiori was surprised by that move. "Now you're summoning it during my turn?"

"That's right. So go ahead. Send 5 cards to the graveyard."

Shiori took another 5 cards and slid them into his graveyard slot. As usual, he observed them carefully. _'Hmm.'_ ( **Deck:** **6-1** ) He then looked up to face Matt. "Since you used Tarotrei's ability during my turn, your Needle Worm is at risk, in case I would summon a monster that can attack."

The flip duelist however smirked. "That's why I placed this card facedown." The card he mentioned flipped up. "Book of Moon. This spell card lets me flip a face up monster on the field into facedown defense mode. And it should be obvious to you who I choose." Needle Worm became a facedown card. (Again.) "Well, I guess that's a wrap. With only one card left in your deck, it's unlikely that you can do anything this turn."

"That's true." Syrus said. "Almost all of Shiori's cards are in the graveyard. I don't think he can win this."

"Don't be so sure." Andrew replied. "Anything can happen in a duel."

Shiori smiled at his words. "He's right. In fact, you were actually able to help me."

Matt blinked at this. "Huh?"

"While you forced me to get rid of my cards, I was spared from the trouble of going through my deck in order to draw the card I just got." He inserted a card into his duel disk, making a spell card appear on the field. "Preparation of Rites. This card allows me to take a level 7 or lower ritual monster from my deck and add it to my hand. And this is the ritual monster I wanted." He drew the last card… ( **Deck: 1-0** ) and revealed it to everyone.

"Lycanthrope." Matt said.

"Whoa! So the last card is a ritual monster? Sweet!" Jaden said.

Syrus on the other hand tilted his head. "But what can that monster do? As long as Gravity Bind is in play, he can't attack."

But Andrew just smiled. "I don't think that will be a problem."

"He's right. Because my spell card has a second effect. In addition to take a ritual monster from my deck, I'm allowed to take back any ritual spell card I want from my graveyard. And the card I choose is…" A certain spell card ejected from Shiori's duel disk. "End of the World."

The flip duelist gasped. "Could it be…?"

"That's right. I'm about to summon my most destructive ritual monster." Shiori held up his End of the World card, making dark clouds appear above the field. "And now I sacrifice my level 8 monster Shinato in order to summon Demise, King of Armageddon." The blue-skinned angel was struck by a lightning and blue flames covered the ground in his place. And then, the dark armored fiend rose up from the ground, with its massive axe in its hands. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 2000 LV: 8)

"No way!" Syrus gasped.

"Looks like Shiori pulled it off." Andrew said.

"He sure did." Jaden added. "Nice move Shiori!"

"And now I activate my King's special ability. By paying 2000 life points, I'm able to let him destroy all other cards on the field."

 **Shiori: 2100-0100**

"Go! Flames of Armageddon!" The fiend slammed his axe down and unleashed a wave of blue flames which destroyed everything around him, including Matt's monsters and trap card.

Matt held up his arms in protection until the flames died down. "Oh man, now I'm defenseless."

"Indeed. But I'm not done yet. I have another card to play." Shiori held up a certain card. "The ritual spell card Synthesis Spell."

"What? Two ritual summonings in one turn?" Syrus asked surprised.

"No way!" Jaden added.

"This is gonna hurt." Andrew stated.

"Now for a sacrifice worth of at least level 6, I sacrifice the level 8 monster Tri-Horned Dragon in order to summon Lycanthrope." The blue dragon with many horns appeared on the field for a second, before disappearing. And then, a familiar werewolf-like monster rose up next to the dark armored fiend. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 1800 LV: 6)

"Yikes! Now I got two ritual monsters staring down at me."

"You sure do. But, only one of them will be enough to wipe you out."

Matt blinked at Shiori's response. "What does that mean?"

"I'll show you. Now Lycanthrope, attack him directly!" The werewolf let out a mighty howl before it leapt in the air, landed in front of the flip duelist, and then clawed him.

 **Matt: 2600-0200**

"And for his special effect. Whenever he deals battle damage to your life points, you take an additional 200 points of damage for every normal monster in my graveyard."

"And Shiori has more than one normal monster in his graveyard, all thanks to Matt." Andrew pointed out.

"So that's it?" Syrus asked.

"It sure is." Jaden replied.

Matt sighed before being surrounded by a red aura as a sign of losing life points.

 **Matt: 0200-0000**

Shiori approached him after the holograms disappeared. "Well Matt? What do you think of the results of our improved decks?"

"I think the results are acceptable." The flip duelist replied.

"Yeah, I agree. That was a great duel." The ritual duelist offered him a handshake, which Matt accepted.

"Thanks."

The spectators walked up to them.

"Nice dueling, guys." Andrew said.

"Yeah, it was awesome." Syrus added.

"Thanks." they replied.

"That duel was sweet." Jaden complimented. "How about to duel me? I can face any of you two, so get your game on!"

Shiori and Matt looked looked at each other with a weird look in their faces before turning to the brown haired Slifer. "Um, sorry, we're tired. Maybe next time." They said.

"You guys are no fun." Jaden pouted.

Andrew chuckled. "Ya know, I'm surprised that you have so much energy, for someone who fall asleep in classes."

Jaden just shrugged. "Hey, what can I say? I always save my strength for dueling."

"Why not save your energy for studying?" Shiori asked.

"No way!"

Everyone laughed at Jaden's respond.

With another duel, the friendship between the duelists have grown bigger.

* * *

 **Okay, I think that's enough for now. And I think I should tell you guys something. I've decided that my next chapter shall be April Fools Day themed. Just to let you all know when my next update will be. Until next time.**


	21. Chapter 21

**April Fools Day Mayhem**

It was a peaceful night at Duel Academy. Everyone was sleeping in their dorms... Or not. If one were to look inside the Obelisk boys dorm, they could see some light inside one of the dorm rooms. This dorm room had a king sized bed, a couch of the quality like it was from a 5 star hotel. And also a chair and a desk with the same quality. And right in front of the desk, there was a boy sitting on the floor, going through some stuff he had in a bag. This boy's uniform was blue with white lines, for an obvious reason. Despite the light from the lamp, it was hard to see his face. His hair however was clear to see for anyone who would have been there. It was in shoulder length and messy. It's color was kinda interesting. Most of it was orange, with jet black highlights. The boy was muttering to himself while going through his stuff.

"Let's see. Whoopee cushion; check. Paint cans; check. Stink bombs; check." After counting the items, he tied up the bag and stood up. By doing so, the light was able to reveal his face. His skin was lightly tanned, and his eyes were dark green. A mischievous smile was formed on his face. "Alright, everything is set. This will become a day everyone never forget. It's time for April Fools Day."

* * *

 _Next day_

Everything was as calm as any day would be... whenever it is calm that is. Anyway, The students were sitting in classrooms. Among them, there were students in a classroom, waiting for Dr. Crowler's class to start. And as you probably guessed, Jaden was sleeping as usual. Most of his friends were chatting with each other. Andrew was sitting quietly while waiting for the class to start. He was staring at his cell phone while scrolling the pictures it was showing. Most of them were pictures of himself and his family. He stopped when a picture in particular appeared. It was showing Andrew himself standing in front of a fountain smiling, along with two other people. He was wearing a dark-blue t-shirt and a pair of black shorts.

The one standing on his left side was his cousin Angie. She was wearing a red t-shirt that matched the cap she was wearing, a pair of blue shorts and a pair of sandals in the same blue color. She was grinning while holding up the peace sign with the fingers of the her left hand.

The other person who was standing on Andrew's right side was a man that looked like to be a few years older than him. Just like Angie, this man had short black hair and light-blue eyes. He was wearing an opened gray jacket with a white shirt underneath, black sweat pants and dark blue boots. He seemed to be a little muscular. Not like a body builder, but relatively good measured. He had a small smile on his face while having his left hand placed on Andrew's right shoulder.

While staring at the picture, Andrew couldn't help but think… _'I wonder how Peter is doing?'_

"What's up?" Someone asked from his right. Andrew turned to see Shiori giving him a curious look.

"Nothing. I'm just looking at some pictures, that's all."

Shiori leaned closer to have a look at the picture the cellphone was showing. He blinked when he got a look at the man in the picture. "And who are those two people? I have a feeling I've seen one of them."

"Really?"

"Yeah. That man who is standing with you. Who is he?"

Andrew smiled before he answered. "Well, this man is none other than Peter Mihaylov."

Shiori widened his. "Peter Mihaylov!? As if Peter Mihaylov, 'The Master of Dragon Rulers'?"

"Yup. That's him alright."

"Man, I can't believe you met a famous Pro League dragon duelist. "

Andrew scratched the back of his head while smiling sheepishly. "It's actually more than just that."

Shiori raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Andrew took a moment before he took a deep breath. He then spoke up again. "Well, believe it or not, but Peter is my cousin."

The ritual duelist almost dropped his jaw at this revelation. "No way! Are you serious?"

"As serious as I can be."

"Well I'll be damned. You and him relatives? That's amazing."

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't proud of that." Andrew admitted. "Once I graduate, I will become a Pro Duelist, just like him."

"You think you will become better than him?"

"We'll find out when the time is right."

Shiori nodded before looking at the picture again. "Anyway, who is that girl?"

"Oh, this is Angie. She's my other cousin."

Once again, Shiori widened his eyes, but not as surprised as he was about Peter. "Really? I didn't know he had a little sister."

"Well, he does. Angie is a nice person, even though she could be a tease sometimes. She's around one year younger than me. She told me once that she's planning to attend this academy next year."

"That sounds good. I would like to see how good she is."

And it was at that moment the doors opened and Dr. Crowler walked over to his desk. "Alright everyone, settle down. Now today's lesson is about...

PHHTBHBHT!

But the moment he took a seat, a loud, fart-like sound was heard from his position. It just took 3 seconds before many students let out a burst of laughter to Crowler's embarrassment.

"(HAHAHA!) Did you guys hear that?" Jaden asked while laughing. "Sounds like Crowler ate something bad this morning!"

"Did Dr. Crowler just do what I think he did?" Jasmine wondered disbelieved.

"Gross." Mindy commented.

"STOP YOUR LAUGHING!" Crowler snapped before he got up from his chair and turned around to see something on it. Everyone saw that he picked up what appeared to be a whoopee cushion. He then gave everyone a hard glare. "Alright who is the wise guy!?" He looked around until he glared at the most likely suspect... according to him. "Was it you!?" He asked while pointing at Jaden who stopped his laughter and flinched.

"Um, not really." He said nervously.

"Don't you lie to me! This time I'm gonna…" While Crowler was yelling at Jaden angrily, he failed to notice a red ballon in front of his desk, and it appeared to be full of some kind of liquid. When the angry Obelisk headmaster was about to approach Jaden, he accidentally stepped on the balloon, making it burst. As a result, Crowler's legs were now drenched in blue paint. "What the…!?" He exclaimed. "What in the world is this!" He then glared at Jaden even harder, making the latter sweat a little. "Alright you little…" And since there were some paint on the floor, Crowler slipped and fell down. He was now laying on the ground with swirling eyes.

And once again, many students were laughing at Crowler. Some of them were just surprised. Including Andrew and Shiori.

"Okay, what just happened?" Andrew wondered.

"I think someone just pulled off an April Fools prank." Shiori replied.

Andrew widened his eyes. "Oh, that's right. Today is April Fools Day. But who could be behind this prank?"

"Who knows? I just hope I don't become a victim."

Among the laughing students, there was a certain orange haired Obelisk boy who smiled smugly. _'This wasn't too bad. But this is just the beginning.'_

* * *

And it was true, because later on, something else was about to happen. And that took place in the girls locker room. It was no-one there at the moment, so anyone could sneak in unnoticed. Which was exactly what someone just did. It was an Obelisk boy with spiky red hair who stepped in and looked back and forth to see if the coast was clear. Seeing everything was fine, he started to work. The Obelisk boy went over to one of the lockers and placed an object right on the top. He then took out a wire from his pocket and tied one end to the object. Then he used duct tape to attach the other end to the top of the door of the locker. Once he was finished, he quickly left the locker room.

And not too long after he left, two Obelisk girls came in while talking to each other. One of them had short black hair that reached her shoulders. The other one had light grey hair tied into a pair of long pigtails.

"Can you believe that someone would pull off such a prank on Dr. Crowler?" The black-haired girl asked.

"Yeah. I mean, tricking a student is one thing, but a teacher? That's just suicidal." The grey-haired girl said. "Whoever did it, is risking to getting themselves in trouble." As they spoke, the grey-haired girl was opening the door, completely unaware of the wire attached to it. And as soon as the door was completely opened, it dragged down the object that was on the top of the locker, making it fall down. The two girls were surprised by this, but as they got their attention of the object hanging in front of them, they could see that it was a… a...

A human arm!

"AAAAAAHHHHH!"

Right outside the locker room, the red-haired Obelisk Boy snickered as the trick with the artificial arm was a success.

* * *

Meanwhile, there were a decent number of Obelisk Blue boys who were in their dorm and eating lunch. And since this is the dorm of the highest rank, the food was unsurprisingly the kind that you would find in a party for famous and rich people. While many Obelisk boys were enjoying the lunch, one Obelisk boy was hiding behind a pillar. He had short, black hair, and he was smiling mischievously. He was holding something in his hand; A plastic bottle full of some kind of greenish liquid. The boy placed the bottle behind the pillar, took a deep breath, and then opened the bottle before he left the place. An odor left the bottle.

The Obelisks kept enjoying the food, until one of them sniffed the air. "Hey, do guys smell something?"

The others paused from the eating and began sniffing the air as well. And as a result, many of them suddenly coughed in disgust, while other Obelisk boys cringed and held their noses.

"Yuck! What's that smell!?"

"What the hell!? What is this!?"

"What's going on!? Did someone left some rotten eggs behind!?"

As all of them were whining, the culprit was standing outside the building and snickered before he ran away.

* * *

Speaking of whining, Crowler was walking through the hallway, with some paint on his legs.

"This is outrageous." He muttered angrily. "To pull a stunt like this on me. And right in front of the students. I will make the culprit pay dearly for that!" While we was ranting, a certain orange-haired Obelisk boy watched him approach him from around the corner. He smirked before finishing the preparation of his prank. He set up a trip wire at the stairs that held up a bag filled of some kind of powder hanging above him. And as soon he was finished, he quickly left the area before Dr. Crowler appeared. The angry Obelisk headmaster was still grumbling about the incident that occurred earlier and didn't noticed the trip wire until he stepped on it.

"Huh…" Was all he out before the bag fell on his head, leaving the powder all over him. Now he became really furious. "OKAY, THAT'S IT! WHO'S BEHIND THI…" He stopped at mid sentence when he suddenly had a feeling in his nose. "Wh-what is this-a a ACHOO! ACHOO! ACHOO!" Crowler sneezed uncontrollably, making the students who passed by give him a weird look. And then, after sneezing one more time, he fell down on the stairs, rolling down. And by unfortunate coincidence, Miss Fontaine and Professor Banner were at the bottom part, with the latter carrying a box full chemicals. They were about to walk up but saw Crowler rolling down towards them. They could only gasp before he landed on them both, making Banner drop the box. Some of the bottles with chemicals broke, causing the liquids spread on the floor. As soon as they got mixed, they created some smoke. And then...

BOOM!

An explosion occurred, startling many students nearby. The area was covered by smoke for a moment, before revealing the three teachers, laying on the floor with swirling eyes and their bodies smudged by the smoke.

The orange-haired Obelisk boy watched this from around the corner and snickered. "Hohohoho. That was better than I expected." He then ran off.

* * *

And so, Chancellor Sheppard found himself inside his office with the three teachers standing in front of him. They have just told him about the incident, and none of them was pleased by what they've been through. Especially Dr. Crowler.

"And that's how it went out!" He said angrily. "Some disrespectful students pulled off some awful pranks on us. I even heard that someone left a stink bomb in my dorm. I bet some of those Slifers are behind this."

"Now, now. We don't even have any proof of who's responsible." Miss Fontaine replied.

"I don't know who did this, but I doubt any of my students would do that." Banner said, while stroking the cat he was holding.

"Well, it is April Fools Day, so it's not unusual with pranks." Sheppard said. "But based on your story, it seems the one responsible doesn't know how to restrain their actions. I'll make sure to give everyone an announcement about this." With that, the teachers were dismissed and left the office.

* * *

The students were in the hallway, most of them talking about what happened to Crowler, Banner, and Fontaine.

"Did you saw what happened to Crowler and the other teachers?" A Ra Yellow student asked one of his friends.

"Yeah, Dr. Crowler sneezed like crazy, fell on the other two, causing Professor Banner drop his chemicals and create an explosion."

"The prankster got some nerve pulling off something like that on them." An Obelisk girl said.

"Yeah, they don't have any respect at all." Another girl replied.

Before anyone else said anything, they heard the Chancellor's voice from the loudspeakers. **"Attention all students. I would like to make an announcement, regarding a prank that occurred earlier. While it is okay to pull pranks on April Fools Day, the one that the teachers suffered went too far. If anyone know about this, report to me at my office."**

Everyone who heard this began discussing about this.

* * *

And that includes Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Andrew, and Shiori, who just left the academy building.

"Man, talk about a bummer." Jaden said. "I mean, pranks can be funny, but not if they cause some harm to people."

"Yeah, that whoopee cushion and paint filled balloon is one thing, but making Crowler sneeze and bump into someone carrying chemicals is just wrong." Syrus replied.

"Who would do something like that?" Chumley wondered.

"Good question." Andrew replied. "But one thing is certain. We need to find the culprit before he or she do something worse."

"And how are we supposed to find the culprit?" Shiori asked.

"We could start with asking some people about this."

"I don't think it's that simple." A female voice spoke up. The group turned to see Alexis, Jenny, Jasmine and Mindy standing near the entrance of the building.

"Alexis?" Jaden asked.

"What do you mean it's not that simple?" Syrus asked.

Jenny answered the question. "We asked a few people ourselves, but no-one knows anything. They said that they tried to find the one responsible, but didn't find any trace of them."

"Then they must be really good at hiding." Shiori commented.

Andrew frowned. "This is bad. How are supposed to fi…" He stopped at mid sentence when heard some rustling from the bushes nearby.

"What's wrong?" Jaden asked.

"Shh. I think I heard something nearby." The masked hero duelist hid behind one of the statues standing in front of the entrance. And so did the others. They observed the rustling bushes and eventually saw two figures walking away from there. Those two were the Obelisk boys with short black hair and spiky red hair.

"Hey, those two are from the trio that got beaten by Matt." Syrus pointed out.

"Why are they sneaking around here?" Jasmine wondered.

"Maybe they're going to get me some flowers." Mindy said dreamily, making Jenny face palm.

"I don't think that's the case, Mindy." Alexis replied, almost annoyed.

"Then let's find out what they're up to." Jaden declared as he, along with the others, followed the two Obelisk boys. The group kept a safe distance to avoid from being noticed. After what felt like at lest 5 minutes, they stopped when the two Obelisk boys stopped in a clear area in the forest. "Oh, they stopped."

"But why?" Syrus whispered.

On cue, someone else entered the area. It was an Obelisk boy whose messy hair was orange with jet black highlights.

"Who's that guy?" Shiori asked.

"I think I've seen him before." Alexis replied. "His name is James Napier.

They then listened the boys' conversation

"So, are you guys ready to have some more fun?" He asked while smirking.

The two boys in front him scowled at him. "Fat chance." The black-haired one replied. "Not after the Chancellor gave that announcement."

"Yeah, there's no way we're going to take the risk of getting detention." The red-haired one added.

James placed his hands on his cheeks and pretended to be shocked. "What? After everything we've been through, you guys are gonna give up?" He said dramatically, and then gave them a pout. "We worked so hard together to prepare the pranks we pulled off on the teachers and other students."

The group watching this gasped.

"So, they're the ones behind those pranks." Andrew deduced.

"It sounds like that's the case." Shiori replied.

"Listen pal, we agreed to help you with a few pranks, you never said anything to keep pranking until we got caught." The black-haired boy argued.

"That's right, so stop your complaining and give us what you promised."

James shrugged. "(sigh) Alright fine, if you insist." He pulled something out of his blazer and held it out. A pair of duel monster card packs. "Here you have it. Some rare cards."

The two accomplices grinned and took the packs swiftly.

"Oh yeah."

"That's what I'm talking about."

Andrew and the others looked at each other for a moment and nodded. Now was the time to interrupt the celebration. Everyone jumped off from their hiding spot and approached the three Obelisks.

"Alright! Caught you red handed!" Jaden called out.

The three Obelisk boys jumped and turned to the group.

"Ah crap!" The black-haired boy cursed.

"We are so busted." The red-haired boy added.

"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" And so, they ran away, leaving James behind.

"Hey, wait! You can't just leave me…" He tried to call out to them but were stopped by the group who gave him angry looks.

"Okay, you jerk. You got some explaining to do for Chancellor Sheppard." Jenny declared.

"C-come on. It was just some pranks." He said nervously.

"Just some pranks?" Shiori repeated. "Having a teacher bump into others and cause an explosion is not something to laugh at."

"Well, everything is allowed in love, wars and pranks."

"Hey, pranks are supposed to be funny, not to hurt people." Jaden argued.

"Yeah, so just give up and come with us!" Syrus demanded.

"Come on. Don't you people have a sense of humor?"

Andrew was starting to get annoyed. "You can't just…" He was then interrupted by Jenny who held an arm out in front of him.

"Fine, how about to settle this in a fair way?" She suggested.

Everyone looked at her in surprise.

James got curious. "And by that, you mean…?"

"We'll settle this in a duel." Jenny announced, making everyone even more surprised.

"A duel?" Syrus and Shiori repeated.

"That's right. You and I duel. If you win, then we won't tell anybody. If I win, then you have to explain everything you've done. Deal?"

James was still nervous, but thought about it. That could be his only chance to get away. Eventually he nodded. "Okay, I accept."

"Good." Jenny replied, but saw him holding up a finger while smirking.

"But I have one condition. I agree to duel you, if you promise me this; If I win, not only you will keep quiet about this, but you have to be my servants for a week."

Everyone widened their eyes. Andrew then got annoyed again. "You're joking, right?"

"Nope, not at all." James replied nonchalantly.

Jenny sighed at this but gave him her answer. "Okay, I promise."

Jasmine and Mindy gasped. "Are you sure about this, Jenny?" The former asked.

Jenny got her duel disk ready. "We need to stop his pranking, so yes."

Andrew sighed, but smiled. "It's fine. Jenny won't be defeated that easily."

"But I might surprise you." James said as got his own duel disk ready. Both duelists took their positions while the others watched from the sidelines.

"Show him what you got, Jenny!" Jaden called out.

"Go, get him!" Mindy added.

The duelists drew their opening hands.

"Alright miss. Let's see what you got." James said.

"Be careful what you wish for." SHe replied.

"LET'S DUEL!"

 **Jenny: 4000**

 **James: 4000**

"Okay, here goes." James announced as he drew his sixth card. "I play a facedown monster in defense mode." A facedown card appeared. "Then I'll place another card facedown and end my turn." Another card appeared behind the first one.

"My turn." Jenny drew a card. "And I'll start with the field spell known as The Sanctuary in the Sky." The forest area was replaced by the heavenly palace in the clouds. "And then I summon Nova Summoner." The orange and green ring creature with wings and green core appeared. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 800 LV: 4) "Now attack his facedown monster!" The monster fired a green energy beam from its core that went straight toward the facedown monster card.

It flipped up and revealed... an usual creature. It looked like a green, grinning alligator or crocodile with a small axe in its hands. But what made this monster unusual was that it looked… cartoonish. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 1600** LV: 4) Before anyone could say anything about its appearance, everyone watched as the monster held up a sign with the picture of an arrow pointing up. And then, for some reason, the energy beam changed direction and went straight up towards the sky. The toon monster laughed at this.

Jenny was almost weirded out. "What the…?"

"Quite amusing, don't you think?" James asked while grinning.

The spectators were almost weirded out as well.

"Um, what just happened?" Syrus asked.

"Besides the fact that Jenny's monster was too weak to defeat that thing, I have no idea." Shiori replied.

"But what kind monster is that?" Jaden wondered. "Some kind of cartoon crocodile?"

That question caused the 'cartoon crocodile' glare at Jaden and stomp in anger.

"No no no. It's not a crocodile, it's an alligator." James corrected. "Toon Alligator."

The spectators and Jenny gasped.

"Toon? As if a Toon monster like those that Pegasus himself uses?" Alexis asked with a shocked tone in her voice.

"No way!" Chumley said.

"But that's crazy. How could that guy have a Toon monster in his deck?" Jasmine wondered.

"Technically, it's not a Toon monster though." Andrew said, confusing everyone. "I mean, sure it may look like a Toon monster, but despite its name, it's just a normal monster. Just because he has Toon Alligator, doesn't necessarily mean that he has Toon monsters in his deck."

The Obelisk boy smirked mentally. _'You have no idea how wrong you are.'_

Even though she agreed with Andrew, Jenny would not let her guard down. "I place one card facedown and end my turn." A facedown card appeared behind Nova Summoner.

"Alright then, my move." James glanced at the card he drew and smirked. "Well well, look at here. We just got the first plot twist of this story." He inserted a card into his duel disk and a card appeared in front of him. "I activate the spell card Toon Table of Contents. This lets me take any Toon card or Manga Ryu-Ran from my deck and add it to my hand." Everyone gasped. "That's right, this is proof that I actually have Toon cards, including a certain spell card that I'm about to unleash."

"No way. Is it what I think it is?" Syrus asked worriedly.

"I think it is, Sy." Jaden replied.

Even Jenny had a good idea what card James is about to play. "Then you…"

He grinned as he took the specific card from his deck. "Yup, you're in my world now, my dear." He then revealed the spell card. "Toon World, to be exact."

(Play Toon World theme)

A big, green book appeared in the air. It opened up with a giant smoke with cartoon sound effects. There were even words like 'POW' and 'BOOM' that flied off. Once the smoke cleared, it show a diorama of haunting, yet childish storybook-type land. It actually looked a child's pop-up book.

"And all I have to do is give up 1000 life points if I want to activate it.

 **James: 4000-3000**

"It appears I have spoken too soon." Andrew commented.

"But I thought Maximillion Pegasus was the only one with a Toon deck." Shiori added. "How is this possible?"

"I guess I owe you guys an explanation." James cleared his throat before he explained. And by explained, I mean narrated like it was some kind of a fairytale. "Once upon a time, there was a boy who was home alone, watching TV…"

* * *

 **Flashback**

James was sitting on a couch in a living room, watching TV. He was wearing a red t-shirt and black pants.

 _"The charming boy was enjoying the show he was watching, until suddenly, it was interrupted by special news."_ The picture on the screen changed and showed a person smiling at anyone watching this. It was a man with long, platinum hair that reached a little past his shoulders and covering the left side of his face. He was dressed in a red, three-piece suit with a white shirt underneath. Everyone knew him as the creator of Duel Monsters: Maximillion Pegasus.

"Good day, everyone. Maximillion Pegasus here." He greeted as 'charmingly' as he usually would. "I'm speaking to you all today to make a special announcement. Ever since Duel Monsters was created, many people around the world was able to make any card my company ever created to shine. I especially enjoyed all those times when I let my beloved Toon monsters enjoy the game." He then let out a sad sigh. "But alas, they won't have much fun since I'm busy with my company." But then, he smiled as he pointed straight at the viewers. "That however can be changed, by you. How you ask? Because I've prepared a contest for a chance to win your very own set of Toon monsters."

James smiled, obviously very interested in this.

"The rules are simple. You just have to write down your own ideas of some new Toon cards. And then, you post them to Industrial Illusions. And if you're lucky, then the prize will be delivered directly to your home. Best of luck everyone."

 _"Once our hero heard that, he_ _immediately started to work on his ideas."_

James was sitting at a desk in his room and wrote down any card idea he came up with.

* * *

Later on, he went to the nearest public mailbox and slid an envelope in it.

* * *

 _"And then, he waited. It was almost a month since our hero posted his ideas to Industrial Illusions, and he started to wonder if he would ever get the prize. That is until…"_

DING DONG!

James heard the door bell and opened the door, to reveal a postman holding a small package.

"Are you James Napier?"

"Yes."

"Then this is for you." He handed the package to him before holding up a paper and a pencil. "Sign here, please."

James took the pencil and wrote his name and gave it back to the postman.

"Thank you. Have a good day." He then walked away.

James placed the package on a table and opened it. He was now surprised. Why? Because what was inside the package was a deck full of Duel Monsters cards with a letter on it.

"Could it be…?" He asked himself as he picked up the letter and read it.

 _Dear James Napier.  
_

 _It is my greatest pleasure to say congratulations, because you are the winner of our contest.  
_ _Of all the ideas I got, your ideas were like a blessing from above for my lovely toons.  
_ _I hope you'll make them shine as much as I did.  
_ _  
Signed: Maximillion Pegasus._

James looked through the deck he got, and true to the letter's words, this deck was indeed full of Toon cards. He couldn't help but jump in joy.

"WHOOHOO!"

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"And the new Toon duelist lived happily ever after. The end." He finished.

Almost everyone sweat dropped at his story.

"Okay, that's totally weird." Mindy commented.

"Yeah, I mean, did he really have to tell the story like a fairytale?" Jasmine added.

Jaden seemed to be the only one who wasn't bothered by this. "At least we now know how he got those cards. A card contest. Kinda like you, right Andrew?"

"Except I earned my cards from a Duel Monsters tournament." He replied.

Jenny rubbed her forehead before she spoke up. "Thanks for the 'interesting' story, but how about you make your move?"

"Oh right. It's still my turn. Now where was I? Oh, I was about to summon Toon Masked Sorcerer in attack mode." Toon World flipped its pages until it reached a pop up table surrounded by pop up masks. Then, from a puff of pink smoke, appeared James' new monster. It was a goofy looking, red haired man wearing a purple robe, red clown shoes and a blue blue mask that seemed like it was his face. ( **ATK: 900** DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "And as much as I want to damage your life points, my Toon monster can't attack the same turn it is summoned, so I'll end my turn with two facedown cards."

Syrus sighed in relief. "At least Jenny is safe."

"Especially since the Toon monsters are known to have the ability to attack the opponent directly." Alexis added.

Jenny drew a card and looked over her hand. _'I don't know what he's planning to do with his facedown cards, but I better be careful.'_  
"First I'll switch Nova Summoner to defense mode." The monster in question lowered itself. "Then I summon Bountiful Artemis in attack mode." The mechanical, purple caped angel rose up next to Nova Summoner. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1700 LV: 4) "Now attack his Toon Masked Sorcerer!" The angel held up its hands and fired a yellow energy beam at the masked man.

"You just triggered my trap card…" One of James' facedown cards flipped up. "Toon Defense. This card is one of the ideas I came up with. And it's very handy, because I can use this continuous trap card to protect my low level Toons from your attacks. All I have to do is make your attack a direct attack."

Everyone gasped.

"But then you'll lose even more life points." Jenny pointed out.

The Obelisk boy however wagged a finger. "That won't be a problem, thanks to my other trap." The other facedown card flipped up. "Ever heard of Spirit Barrier?"

"Well, I've heard of that card." Shiori said "As long as that guy has a monster on the field, all his battle damage is reduced to zero."

"Not Lishus. That means he can protect his monsters _and_ his life points." Chumley added.

The masked man chuckled and wiggled his fingers. Then from a magic circle, a trampoline appeared on the ground. The sorcerer then jumped on the trampoline, getting himself high enough to avoid the energy beam that was blocked by Spirit Barrier. Once back on the ground, he chuckled again.

Jenny clicked her tongue. "I place one card facedown and end my turn..."

"Before I let you do that, I activate my third trap card, Toon Mask." As soon as the trap card revealed itself, a bizarre, green mask emerged from it and attached itself on Artemis' face.

"What are you doing to my monster?"

"Don't worry, your monster won't get hurt. My Toon Mask is just a card that lets me summon a Toon monster from my hand or deck, as long as that monster is up to the same level as the monster I choose from your side. So thanks to your Bountiful Artemis, I can summon a Toon Monster that is up to level 4." The mask glowed and jumped off the fairy monster's face before entering Toon World. And then a card came out of James' deck. "Now I summon Toon Goblin Attack Force." The book flipped its pages until it reached a forest with land with pop ups of trees and bushes. And jumping out of it was a caricature version of the actual Goblin Attack Force. ( **ATK: 2300** DEF: 0 LV: 4)

"Now I draw." James drew a card and glanced at it before making his move. "Let's see how you handle the strength of my toons. Watch as they strikes your life points. Toon Goblin Attack Force, attack!" The goblins ran towards the fairy duelist.

"I activate my two trap cards." Her two facedown cards flipped in following order... "Negate Attack and Solemn Wishes."

"Negate Attack?" James parroted.

"That's right. This trap card stops your attack and forces you to end your battle phase." The named card created a barrier of its own. The goblins tried to stop their assault, but ended up colliding with the barrier with a cartoon sound effect. After the barrier pushed them back to James' field, they were sitting on the ground with dizzy eyes and a bunch of mini Winged Kuriboh flying above their heads.

"You're no fun, Jenny." James cracked.

"If you don't like that, then you're gonna hate this; Since Negate Attack is a counter trap, Bountiful Artemis' ability activates. I get to draw one card from my deck." The moment Jenny drew a card, her other trap glowed. "And this trigger the effect of Solemn Wishes. Every time I draw cards from my deck, I gain 500 life points."

 **Jenny: 4000-4500**

"Way to go, Jenny!" Mindy cheered.

"You can handle that joker!" Jasmine added.

James sighed. "Okay, then I'll just end my turn."

"Good."

 **Jenny: 4500-5000**

Jenny looked at the card she drew and nodded. _'This should do, but first, I need to play another card.'_  
"I activate the spell card Celestial Transformation. This lets me summon a fairy type monster from my hand. However, that monster's attack points are cut in half, and it's also destroyed at the end of the turn. But the one I'm about to summon should make that downside worth it. I summon Spirit of the Pot of Greed." Everyone were quite amazed to see her summon a monster that was actually the pot that you could see in the picture of a certain spell card. But what amazed them even more was that something rose up from its inside. It was a small, green spirit that had the same grinning face as the pot itself. ( **ATK: 100-50** DEF: 100 LV: 1)

"Spirit of the Pot of Greed? Wow, never heard of a monster named after the spell card." Jaden admitted.

"And there's a good reason that monster has a name like that." Alexis replied with a smile.

"Now I activate the spell card Pot of Greed. As you know, this spell card lets me draw two cards." Jenny drew from her deck.

 **Jenny: 5000-5500**

And then, the spirit flew out of the pot and circled around her. "And this is where my spirit comes in. As long as it remains on the field in attack mode, any player who activates Pot of Greed can draw 1 more card." And that's exactly what she did.

 **Jenny: 5500-6000**

Jenny smiled at the new cards she got. "Not bad. I summon Fairy Archer in attack mode." The familiar fairy with a bow in her hand appeared. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 600 LV: 3) "And now I activate her special ability. She can deal 400 points of damage to you for every light monster I have on the field, including herself."

"Smart move." Shiori said. "Spirit Barrier can negate battle damage, but not damage from the effect of a card."

"Which means Jenny is able to get around James' defense." Andrew added.

"Now then, including Fairy Archer herself, there are 4 light monster on my field, so you'll lose 1600 life points." The fairy held up her right hand and created an arrow made of light energy. She then used the bow and fired the arrow at James.

 **James: 3000-1400**

"Next I'll place two cards facedown and end my turn, meaning my Spirit of the Pot of Greed is gone." The named monster disappeared.

"Not bad, but wait until my Toon monsters wipe out most of your life points." James said as he drew a card.

"I'm afraid they won't have a chance to do that." Jenny claimed, making her opponent confused.

"Huh?"

"I activate the trap card Solar Ray." Her facedown card revealed itself. "Here's how it works; for every light monster I control, you take 600 points of damage."

"600 points. That's totally lishus." Chumley commented.

"And there are still 3 light monsters on Jenny's field. So that means…" Syrus said.

"James will take 1800 points of damage." Jaden filled in.

"More than enough to take him out." Andrew added.

"Way to go, Jenny!" Mindy cheered.

"You got him now!" Jasmine added.

Jenny's trap card fired a stream of light energy that straight toward James.

But he smirked for some reason. "Good thing I saved my spell card since the beginning of the duel."

Everyone was surprised.

"Spell card?" Jenny repeated.

James took said card from his hand and held it up. "Poison of the Old man. This allows me to either increase my life points or deal damage to you. And given the circumstances, I choose to increase my life points by 1200."

 **James: 1400-2600**

And his life points were increased just before he got hit by the energy stream.

 **James: 2600-0800**

"Aw man, Jenny almost had him." Syrus said.

"Don't worry, Sy. Jenny still got a bunch of monsters on the field." Jaden replied.

"But they won't do so much." Alexis pointed out. "Remember, James has Toon Defense and Sprit Barrier on the field, so her monsters can't touch his monsters, or his life points."

"Especially since he has a monster strong enough to take down Fairy Archer before she can damage his life points even more." Shiori added.

"Moving on." James announced. "And I play my own Pot of Greed. Too bad that your spirit is gone, otherwise I could have drawn three cards instead of two." He looked at his two new cards and smirked. "Oh well, these two will do, starting with this one, Toon Rollback." A spell card appeared above Toon Goblin Attack Force. "Thanks to this card, one of my Toon monsters can attack twice this turn, and I choose Toon Goblin Attack Force."

"A card that lets a Toon monster to attack twice? Doesn't that sound broken?" Shiori wondered.

"Not good." Andrew stated. "If his goblins can attack twice, then they can destroy Fairy Archer, and then attack Jenny."

"And that's exactly what I'm planning to do. Now my goblins, attack!" The goblins leapt forward and were about to strike the fairy with their clubs."

"You just triggered my trap card, Lumenize." Jenny's other facedown card flipped up. "This trap card lets me stop your attack and then, I can increase the attack points of one of my light monsters with the same amount as the monster you tried to attack with. And I'll give those extra points to my Fairy Archer." The trap card made the fairy monster glow so brightly, that the goblins made a halt and put on sunglasses to protect their eyes. ( **ATK: 1400-3700** )

"Impressive, but my goblins can attack twice this turn, remember?" And so, the goblins struck the fairy duelist with their clubs.

 **Jenny: 6000-3700**

"And now I can play another card. It's called Sebek's Blessing." Another spell card appeared. "Since my monster's direct attack was successful, this card gives me life points equal to the battle damage you just took.

 **James:** **0800-3100**

"And now I attack with Toon Masked Sorcerer." The named monster pointed a finger at her and shot a thin stream of magic energy.

 **Jenny: 3700-2800**

"And since my sorcerer caused you battle damage, I get to draw a card from my deck." James drew a card. "And after my goblins attacks, they switches to defense mode." The goblin attack force picked up chairs from Toon World, and sat down to relax. "I place two cards facedown and end my turn." James concluded.

"Then it's my turn."

 **Jenny: 2800-3300**

Jenny looked at the card she drew, and noticed that it was a monster with 2400 attack points.

While she was staring at it, Phantom Magician appeared next to Andrew. _"Hm? What's this?"_

He glanced at his duel spirit. "What's wrong, Phantom Magician?"

 _"I'm not entirely sure why, Andrew. But for some reason, I'm starting to sense something from Jenny."_

Andrew was surprised by his words. He then looked at the fairy duelist. _'What could it be?'_

Jenny was still staring at her card. _'This might come in handy, but first things first...'_  
"I activate Fairy Archer's special ability. Since I have 3 light monsters on the field, she can give you 1200 points of damage." The fairy in question created another arrow made of light energy and fired it at James.

 **James: 3100-1900**

"And now I sacrifice Nova Summoner in order to summon Tethys, Goddess of Light." The winged ring creature glowed so brightly that James and the spectators covered their eyes. And then, when the light died down, a new monster appeared in Nova Summoner's place. It was a beautiful woman with long, white hair. She wore an elegant white dress with her upper body in armor and had a pair of long, white feather wings. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 1800 LV: 5)

The spectators were awestruck by the beauty of Jenny's new monster. Phantom Magician seemed to look at her differently. _"Interesting."_

Andrew turned to him. "What's interesting?"

 _"Jenny's new monster. It's something unusual of her. Something stronger than any other monster she played so far."_

Andrew gave the monster in question a curious look. _'Something stronger than her other monsters? What does that mean?'_

As for James, he was hardly worried. "Well, that monster is as strong as she's elegant. Unfortunately for you, my Toon monsters are safe, thanks to my Toon Defene card."

Jenny however smirked. "Then that leaves Toon Alligator."

Both the Toon duelist and the named monster blinked.

"It's just like you said, your Toon monsters are safe thanks to your trap card. But like Andrew said, Toon Alligator is not a Toon monster, despite its name. Meaning, that monster is the only one you can't save from my attack."

The alligator screamed like a girl upon realizing that.

"Now Tethys, attack with Heavenly Burst!" The Goddess held her hands and conjured light energy. And then, she fired it like a beam, aiming at the panicking alligator.

"I activate my trap." James's facedown card flipped up. "Astral Barrier. Here's how it works; when you attack one of my monsters, I can save it by taking the hit."

"What!? Isn't that the same as Toon Defense?" Chumley asked.

"Except that Astral Barrier can protect _any_ monster from the opponents attacks." Alexis stated. "So wether the monster is a Toon or not won't matter anymore."

"How right you are." James replied as Toon Alligator stretched around the beam, making it hit Spirit Barrier that kept his life points safe. Once Tethys ceased her attack, the alligator laughed at her.

Jenny was starting to get annoyed.

"You should have watched more cartoons. The cuddliest creature is not getting hit that easily."

Jenny took a deep breath before ending her turn. "Your move." With that said, Fairy Archer's extra points from Lumenize were gone. ( **ATK: 3700-1400** )

"Okay." James drew a card. "And I activate Magic Planter. This spell card lets me draw two cards, after I send a face up trap card from my field to the graveyard. And I choose Toon Defense." The named card disappeared, and James drew two cards. He smiled at what he got. "Nice cards, but before I play any of them, I'll attack with Toon Masked Sorcerer." The masked fired another stream of energy at Jenny.

 **Jenny: 3300-2400**

"And once again, I draw a card, thanks to him." James drew a card. "And now I think it's time for my Toon Alligator to let a new monster take over his place." And out of nowhere, the alligator picked up a briefcase and waved to everyone before jumping into Toon World. "Now say hello to my good friend Toon Summoned Skull." And then, the pages of the book turned to an eerie forest with old tree pop ups. And then, the Toon monster appeared. Just like the name suggests, this was a Toon version of the actual Summoned Skull. It had bulging yellow eyes and a blue coloring. It wiggled its tongue at Jenny. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 1200 LV: 6)

Jenny couldn't help but sweat drop at this. _'Now it's official. I'm starting to know how Yugi Moto felt when he dueled Pegasus.'_

"Just like the Toons, this one can't attack for now, but I can play the spell card Fissure. This lets me destroy a monster on your field with the lowest attack strength. Which means your Fairy Archer is no more." Then named monster was instantly destroyed. "And with her gone, my life points are definitely safe. I end my turn.

"Then here goes."

 **Jenny: 2400-2900**

And it was then Tethys was surrounded by a white aura. "I activate Tethys' special ability. When I draw a fairy type monster from my deck, I can reveal it in order to draw another card, and if that's a fairy type monster as well, I can draw again. Now the one I drew first, is Airknight Parshath. So I draw again."

 **Jenny: 2900-3400**

"Agent of Force - Mars." She drew again.

 **Jenny: 3400-3900**

"Meltiel, Sage of the Sky." And drew again.

 **Jenny: 3900-4400**

"Nova Summoner." And again.

 **Jenny: 4400-4900**

"Radiant Jeral." And again.

 **Jenny: 4900-5400**

And now, she drew a spell card. "And it looks like I drew a spell card known as Cards from the Sky. This spell card prevents me from making a special summon and attacking you this turn. However, it lets me take a light-fairy type monster from my hand and remove it from play. After that, I get to draw two cards from my deck. So I'll remove my Meltiel." She stowed the named card in her pocket and drew two more cards.

 **Jenny: 5400-5900**

"Wow! Jenny's life points are high up again." Syrus said.

Andrew nodded while smiling. "That's Jenny for ya. She knows how to boost her life points skillfully."

Jenny looked at the two cards she got. One of them was a second The Sanctuary in the Sky. The other one was a trap card that gave her an idea. _'This card can help me, when the time is right.'_  
"I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"My move." James drew a card. "And since this is my second turn after I attacked with Toon Goblin Attack force, I can switch them back to attack mode." The goblins got up from their chairs and stretched a little. "And now I can attack with them again. Now Go!" The goblins charged forward and struck Jenny with their clubs.

 **Jenny: 5900-3600**

"And now it's Toon Summoned Skull's turn. But first I must pay 500 life points so he can attack."

 **James: 1900-1400**

"Now, Toon Summoned Skull, Lightning Strike attack!" The cartoonish fiend fired electricity at her.

 **Jenny: 3600-1100**

"And now Toon Masked Sorcerer, it's your turn!" The sorcerer fired another stream of energy.

 **Jenny: 1100-0200**

"And once again, I get to draw an extra card." James drew a card and smirked when he saw what he got. "Aha, just what I was hoping to get. I activate the spell card Magic Reflector." A six legged machine appeared behind Toon World and emitted light on it.

"Um, do you guys have any idea what that does?" Chumley asked.

"Beats me." Jaden replied.

"I don't know either." Syrus added.

Alexis however frowned. "It can place a counter on a face up spell card. And if that card would be destroyed, then the counter takes the hit." Her friends gasped at her explanation.

James smirked again. "Exactly. That means Toon World is safe from one attempt to destroy it. So there's no way I can lose. And to increase my chance of victory even more, I reveal my facedown card." The card in question flipped up. "This is the trap card Gift of The Mystical Elf. Due to its effect, I receive 300 life points for every monster on the field. There are 3 monsters on my side, and there are 3 monsters on your side. That makes 6 monsters, so my trap card gives me 1800 life points.

 **James: 1400-3200**

"And with that, I end my turn."

"Looks like Jenny is in a tight spot." Shiori noted. "Not only she can't attack James to cause damage, but her life points are down to 200. I don't know she can win."

"You should know better than underestimate her, Shiori." Andrew replied. "You've seen how well she did in her previous duels. I know she can win this."

"That's right." Jaden replied. "Come on, Jenny! You can do it!"

The others started to cheer, making Jenny smile.

 _'They're right. I can still win this.'_ She glanced at her deck. _'I just need the right cards.'_ She prepared to make her move. _'Here goes.'_ She drew her next card.

 **Jenny: 0200-0700**

She looked at the card she drew. _'That's the first one.'_ She then turned to James. "I activate Tethys' special ability. So I reveal my fairy monster Soul of Purity and Light to draw another card."

 **Jenny: 0700-1200**

The card she drew was another fairy. _'That's the second one.'_  
"The Agent of Judgment - Saturn. So I draw again."

 **Jenny: 1200-1700**

This time, she drew a spell card. She then gave James a smirk. "Now I can end this duel."

James blinked, and so did his Toon monsters. "What? What are you up to."

"I'll show you, starting with a card you might remember." She held up her spell card.

"Poison of the Old Man?"

"That's right. And just like you, I'll use this spell card to increase my life points."

 **Jenny: 1700-2900**

"And next I remove Nova Summoner and Fairy Archer from my graveyard so I can summon Soul of Purity and Light." A shining, transparent, angelic woman materialized next to Tethys." ( **ATK: 2000** DEF: 1800 LV: 6) "And now I activate the trap card Miraculous Decent." Her facedown card flipped up.

"What does that do?" Mindy asked.

"I have no idea." Jasmine replied.

Alexis smiled. "What it does is something very appropriate in this situation."

"She's right, because this trap card lets me summon one of my fairy type monsters that was removed from the game. So I'll bring back my Fairy Archer." The red bow wielding fairy rose again on the field. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 600 LV: 3) "And I can us her special ability again. So with 5 light monsters on the field, she will cause you 2000 points of damage." The fairy fired a light arrow at James.

 **James: 3200-1200**

"Nice one, Jenny!" Andrew cheered.

"That was a sweet move!" Jaden added.

James was starting to get nervous. "S-so you restored some of your life points and damaged mine. Big deal. I still have my trap cards to protect my monsters _and_ my life points from your attacks. So just wait until I wipe you out during my next turn."

Jenny just smiled. "Too bad I'm not done yet."

"Huh?"

"You heard me. I can still do something more. For example, I haven't normal summoned a monster yet. And I think I'll do it by sacrificing my Bountiful Artemis." The mechanical fairy disappeared. "And in its place, I summon The Agent of Judgment - Saturn." The new monster that appeared was a woman with purple skin and wings, dressed in a slim white and dark-blue robe, wearing a head-piece and jewelry. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 0 LV: 6) "And with her out, you're finished."

"What do you mean? I told you that my monsters, along with my life points are safe from your attacks."

"That's true, but thanks to her special ability, I don't need to attack you. If I have The Sanctuary in the Sky in play, and my life points are higher than yours, then I can sacrifice her to give you damage equal to the difference."

Everyone gasped, including James, whose Toon monsters dropped their jaws, literally.

"Wait, so if Jenny has 2900 life points and James is down to 1200, then…" Syrus tried to count.

"That will give him 1700 points of damage." Shiori filled in.

Andrew smiled. "Then this duel really is over."

The purple angel disappeared into the palace behind Jenny. And then, the top of the palace fired a beam of light. James braced himself as he was about to get hit. The Toons were panicking because the beam was wide enough to hit them as well.

 **James: 1200-0000**

Once the beam ceased, everyone could see the Toons with burned bodies. They were then laying on the ground and waved with white flags before they disappeared, along with the rest of the holograms, with James laying on the ground.

Jenny sighed in relief as she was approached by her friends.

"Nicely done, Jenny." Andrew praised her.

"Yeah, that was a sweet comeback you made." Jaden added.

"Totally lishus."

"You did great." Alexis said.

"Thanks guys." Jenny replied while smiling.

As the group congratulated her, James was crawling on the ground and tried to sneak away...

"Ooooofff!"

Only to get stomped on the ground by Jasmine and Mindy.

"And where do you think you're going?" They asked angrily.

He gave them a nervous smile. "C-come on. I was on my way to the bathroom."

Jenny approached him and crossed her arms while giving him a stern look. "No excuses. You lost the duel, so it's time to pay up.

The Obelisk boy whimpered in response.

* * *

And so, the group dragged him to Sheppard's office so he could confess everything. And as punishment for his prank, he was scrubbing the floor in the main arena. And because he told Sheppard everything (And I mean everything he did.), his two accomplices shared the same punishment.

"This sucks." The black-haired Obelisk boy grumbled. "I can't believe we got busted."

"Yeah, we should have known better than listening to that guy." The red-haired boy added as he was glaring at James.

James just gave them a grin. "Come on, it's not that bad. Sure, we are forced to clean up in here and a few classrooms, but hey, we at least had a good laugh."

That just angered the two boys even more. They were about to approach him. "We'll show you a good laugh you piece of…"

"HEY!"

They made a halt and turned nervously to the source of the two voices that called out to them. Those voices belonged to the two girls who fell victim to the hanged arm prank. They were watching them at the entrance to the arena.

"Stop goofing around and keep scrubbing." The black-haired girl said sternly.

"Unless you want us to report this to Dr. Crowler." The grey-haired girl added.

The boys slumped their shoulders and continued with the scrubbing.

* * *

Andrew, Shiori, Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Alexis and Jenny were standing outside the arena.

"Well, that should teach them to not mess around." Jaden said.

"Especially James, who did the most serious things." Andrew added.

"And hopefully, he won't pull of something that crazy again." Alexis said.

Jenny nodded and turned to widen her eyes and look behind the boys.

"Hm? What's wrong?" Syrus asked.

"Looks like Crowler is coming this way, and he seems to be glaring at you, Jaden."

"Wait what!?" The boy in question said with a panicked tone as he turned around. And so did Syrus and Chumley. Even Andrew and Shiori turned around...

But there was no sign of the Obelisk Blue Headmaster.

"Huh? I see no-one." Chumley said.

"Me neither." Shiori added. "Jenny, are you sure you…" It was then the boys heard the sound of giggling. They turned to see Jenny being the one giggling. Alexis covered her mouth to suppress her own giggling. They boys looked at them disbelieved.

"Wait, don't tell me…" Syrus said.

Jenny stuck out her tongue playfully. "Sorry, couldn't resist."

Jaden wasn't so pleased. "That's not cool."

"Come on, that was just a joke." Alexis said with an amused tone.

Despite himself, Andrew chuckled slightly. "Well, I sure fell for that one."

"Same here." Shiori added.

And eventually, everyone was starting to laugh a little. And then, Andrew noticed Phantom Magician appear. _'Hm? What is it now?'_

 _"You know that I sensed something from Jenny earlier, right?'_ The spirit asked, earning a nod from Andrew. _'Well, look at this.'_ He said.

Andrew looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a transparent figure floating right next to Jenny. It looked like the spirit of a certain goddess. Jenny didn't seem to notice her though. _'Wow, who knew?'_ He thought as he smiled.

* * *

 **And done. And with that, I'll be focusing on more episode based chapters from now on. Until next time."**


	22. Chapter 22

**The Duel Giant**

It was late at night, and a duel was currently taking place in the forest. In a flash of light, an Obelisk Blue boy was thrown back and his cards were scattered around him as his life points hit 0. He looked up to see the opponent who defeated him. He was a giant person who wore bunch of Obelisk Blue blazers all around him and black shades that covered his eyes. He bent down and took one of the loser's cards.

"I'll be taking this." The giant figure said. "You're lucky a card is all you lose tonight."

The Obelisk boy cringed in fear.

"Next time, pick on someone your own size." The giant chuckled as he left.

* * *

During school, a bunch of Obelisk boys were talking about the duel that happened last night

"I heard he picked off another one last night."

"Me too. They say he's huge. And that he can't be beat."

"I heard that…"

"Hey, what's up?" Jaden greeted as he walked up to them, along with Syrus, Chumley and Matt.

The Obelisks turned to them and scoffed before they walked away.

"Wow, is my breath really that bad?" Jaden asked no one in particular.

Syrus wasn't happy at their behavior either. "Lousy Obelisks. Whispering behind our backs and then just strutting off."

"They're just a bunch of elitist jerks." Matt said.

"Duh, guys. They're talking about the duel giant." Chumley explained.

"Duel Giant?" Jaden asked.

"Yeah, some ginormous guy who's been challenging all the Obelisk Blue students to duels and winning. By the way, the scary part is he only comes out at midnight."

"Wait, I have heard about this." Syrus realized. "He takes their cards too!"

"That's what I've heard about as well." Matt responded. "I also heard that he makes the Obelisks play with ante. You know, when you put up your best card and if you lose, you have to hand it over."

"Isn't that illegal though?" The blue-headed Slifer asked.

"Sure is. Which is why he duels in disguise. See, he wears the blue blazers of all Obelisk students he's beaten." Chumley explained.

* * *

While they were talking, Dr. Crowler was walking nearby. And he was unpleased for a certain reason. _'What an absolute nightmare. Some rogue duelist roaming the campus. Making a mockery of my Obelisks. Making a mockery of me!'_ He thought angrily. "And worst yet, this Duel Giant's breaking campus law with that ante rule, under my watch! If Chancellor Sheppard found out, I'd get fired!" He growled, but then noticed a certain group of Slifers, including someone in particular… "Jaden." It was then he smiled mischievously and got an idea. "Wait of course. He could be the perfect way out of this predicament. Oh Jaden, my boy!" He called out as he approached them while smiling.

"He's being nice. Something's wrong." Syrus stated.

"How would you like to have no homework for the rest of the year, huh?"

"No homework?" Jaden asked.

"You and Syrus both. Well, if you help me that is. So, what do you say?"

Jaden grinned. "Alright!"

"Wait, help him doing what?" Syrus asked worriedly.

"Nothing really. Just going on a kind of field trip." Crowler said with a smile still plastered on his face.

What the teacher said made Jaden grin again. "I love field trips."

"And I love grilled cheeses. But sometimes it depends on who's serving them." Chumley commented.

"So teach, where's this field trip taking us?"

"All around campus. I need you to duel and ID the fellow having these illegal matches. You know the one they call him the Duel Giant, I believe?"

"Sure, the guy that's whooping your dorm." Jaden cracked. Matt almost burst out of laughter because of that.

As for Crowler, he pulled back, a look of disgust on his face at the remark. "I... I don't keep track of such things. Good luck, Jaden." When he left, he grinned triumphantly. _'This is perfect. Once Jaden reports back to me with whoever this Duel Giant is, I'll have them both expelled for illegal dueling. I can't lose.'_

"Alright! Let's find us this dino-sized duelist!" Jaden pumped his arm in the air.

"Uh, listen Jaden. Is it too late to say that this is a bad idea?" Syrus asked.

"Doesn't Crowler really not like you?" Matt asked.

"He sure doesn't, but how could I turn down no homework, a field trip and a big duel?"

"By saying 'no'?" Syrus asked.

"I mean, do you even know how to say 'no'?" Chumley asked.

"Yes." Syrus and Chumley groaned at Jaden's answer while Matt shook his head.

"So, how are we gonna find this guy?"

Jaden shrugged at Syrus' question.

"Wait, so we don't even have a plan?! This getting worse every minute!"

"Then I guess we'd better hurry up and get started." Jaden declared as the whole group went off in search of their target.

* * *

Meanwhile, Andrew and Shiori were walling somewhere else and overheard the other students talking about the Duel Giant.

"Who knew that the Obelisk students dueled a mysterious duelist and lost?" Shiori asked.

"Yeah, and not to mention all these matches were illegal because of the ante rule." Andrew responded. "I wonder who this Duel Giant is?"

"Whoever it is, that person must be very mad at the Obelisks, considering their constant bullying."

"But that doesn't give this giant the right to take their cards, though."

The two Ras kept walking, heading to the arena.

* * *

Back with Jaden and the others, they were searching for the Duel Giant. But with the brown-haired Slifer boy taking the lead, they found themselves in a dueling arena to watch a duel between an Obelisk and a Ra.

"Jaden, if we keep taking breaks like this, we're never going to find the Duel Giant." Syrus complained.

"Really? Good." Chumley said.

"Come on, Sy, this looks like a good duel."

 **Obelisk boy: 0200**

The Obelisk boy had one facedown card and a Marauding Captain on the field. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 400 LV: 3)

 **Ra boy: 0300**

And he was facing off against a small, green-haired, nervous boy who had a Mad Sword Beast on the field. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) The Ra boy looked at his hand, shaking. "Alright, I'll play… uhhh…"

Jaden leaned forward to have a better look at the Ra boy's hand. He noticed a certain card the boy was holding. "Sweet! He's got Earthquake. This match is as good as over."

"Rigt on the money." Matt responded. "Once he activates it, his Mad Sword Beast can end this with a bang, thanks to its piercing damage ability."

The Ra boy tried his best to decide what to do. _'Come on Brier, you've got him where you want him. Now win this thing and go home. Just forget everyone watching you. Now, should I use Earthquake to switch his Marauding Captain to defense mode? Or should I attack with Mad Sword Beast?'_

"Get a move on!" The opponent said impatiently. "I'd like to get home sometime this school year!"

Brier shrank at the outburst.

There were three Obelisk at the sidelines who were goading him, just like his opponent.

"What's the matter short-stack? Can't see over the cards?"

"Looks like the little baby's gonna cry."

"Wanna call your mommy?"

Brier tried to focus despite their words. "Eenie, meenie…"

"Miney, mo!" His opponent finished angrily. "Make a move, you're going way too slow!"

Brier cringed. "Okay." He then closed his eyes "I guess I'm gonna attack with my Mad Sword Beast!"

"What!?" Jaden and Matt were confused by the fact that he didn't use the card they thought he would. The dinosaur monster charged at the opposing monster.

The Obelisk boy smirked at this. "I activate my facedown card!" A trap card was revealed. "It's called Reinforcements and it hands me 500 attack points. And I think I'll give them to my Marauding Captain." The warrior was powered up as he charged forward. ( **ATK: 1200-1700** ) With a swing of one of his swords, the dinosaur monster was easily destroyed.

 **Brier: 0300-0000**

"Oh, too bad." Matt commented.

"And he was so close." Jaden added.

"A classic case of stage fright…"

Everyone turned to see Bastion standing next to them with his arms crossed.

"Hey Bastion." Syrus greeted him.

"The boy has tremendous skill, but he hasn't yet been able to handle the pressure of dueling in public like this."

Brier was down on his knees, almost on verge of crying.

"I didn't think it was possible, but on his knees, he's smaller than he was before!" The victorious Obelisk laughed with his fellow dorm mates.

"I think I need some glasses to see him!"

"Better yet, a magnifying glass!"

"Try a microscope!"

The Ra boy had an angry look on his face that made Jaden feel a little uneasy. Winged Kuriboh appeared beside him. _"Coo."_

 _'Yeah, Kuriboh. I felt that too.'_

"So, what's the crew up to these days?" Bastion asked.

"We're looking for a giant." Syrus responded.

"A giant?"

"You know, the one who's been beating all the Obelisks." Matt explained.

"Yes, I've heard of this titan."

"Hey, speaking of…" Jaden said, indicating one of the exits. "Check it out." They looked where he was pointing and saw Brier walking towards a heavy set Ra who was holding his arms out as if to comfort him. He almost reached the ceiling and was wider than most people, even Chumley.

"Seriously! I mean, look at the size of that guy!" Syrus said.

"Who Beauregard?" Bastion asked. "Please, he's no Duel Giant."

"What're you talking about? He's gigantic!"

Bastion laughed a little. "But he's no duelist, Sy. He's at the academy studying to design games, not play them. I know him, he can hardly duel."

"Games huh? Oh well."

Winged Kuriboh appeared again. _"Coo."_

 _'Just what I was thinking, Kuriboh'_ Jaden got up and ran after the two Ra's

"Jaden, wait up!" Syrus called out as he, Matt and Chumley ran after him.

* * *

Brier and Beauregard were walking through the hallway, leaving the arena behind them. Beauregard tried to console his friend from his loss.

"Hey guys." Someone greeted.

They looked up to see Andrew and Shiori approach them.

"What's new?" Shiori asked.

Brier looked at the ground as Beauregard placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"Someone picked on you again, huh?" Andrew asked the small Ra.

"The Obelisks kept making Brier lose his focus out there, and he lost." The big Ra explained with a deep voice.

"They never learn." The ritual duelist said while shaking his head.

"If they cause you more trouble, then we'll help you, okay?" Andrew said.

Brier just shook his head. "I just hope the Duel Giant gets them. Ever since he came around, more and more Obelisks became afraid to duel. Not to mention he takes their rarest cards. It'll teach them to pick on someone smaller than them!"

Andrew and Shiori were surprised by his words. But then again, they can't really blame him after everything he went through.

"Well looky what we got here."

They turned to see the Obelisk Brier dueled, along with his three friends approach them. He looked at Beauregard. "Someone's exceeding this hall's maximum weight limit."

Beauregard groaned, didn't say anything.

"Hey, are you catching my drift, wide-load? You are in my way!"

"So what?" Andrew said angrily. "How about you ask politely, then he'll let you pass."

"Why would I do that, Ra Reject? You losers wouldn't last a minute against us from the elite."

Now it was Shiori's turn to be angry. "That's it! I'm…" But before he did anything, he felt someone tugging his sleeve. He turned to see it was Brier, who lowered and shook his head.

"Come on." He mumbled as he stepped off to the side. Beauregard did the same. Despite themselves, Andrew and Shiori followed suit.

"That's better. Next time maybe use the freight elevator." The Obelisks laughed as they walked off.

Andrew and Shiori scowled at them, and without noticing the anger Brier was showing.

"Hey, hold up!" The Ras turned to see Jaden and the others running up to them. Brier stepped back and hid behind Beauregard.

Jaden looked up at the big Ra. "Sorry, but I didn't want to wait until midnight to duel ya.

Beauregard was surprised by his words, and so were Andrew and Shiori. Brier stepped forward. "And what's that mean!?" He asked angrily. Beauregard scowled, which caused Syrus, Chumley and Matt step back.

"It means I know you're the Duel Giant. So let's throw down right here!"

"Huh?" Andrew and Shiori turned to the larger Ra questioningly. They knew that Beauregard is no duelist. So they found it hard to believe that someone who once played a monster card in the spell/trap card zone could be the Duel Giant.

"What are you talking about!?" Brier interceded. "There's no such thing as the Duel Giant. Come on Beauregard." He took the larger Ra's hand and led him away from the group.

"No?" Jaden asked.

"No." Brier called back.

"Nooo?"

"NO!"

"Jaden, I really don't think that was the Duel Giant." Chumley said.

"No joke. I mean, you heard what Bastion said. That big guy's a game designer, not a duelist. It doesn't add up." Syrus added.

"I don't know about that." Matt responded. "There is something off about Brier."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean, is that the Duel Giant's been the talk of the campus lately, so it's hard to believe that Brier haven't heard of him."

"You're right." Shiori said. "In fact, he was actually talking about him sometime before you guys showed up."

Jaden smirked. "Well, I know how we'll get to the bottom of this."

"Huh?" Everyone turned to him.

"We'll wait at the academy's front entrance and wait for the Duel Giant to show up. Then, I'll duel him and wipe the floor with him." He the grinned. "And once I win, we'll be free from homework."

The two Ras blinked.

"Who told you that?" Andrew asked.

"Dr. Crowler. He told me to go after this guy and deal with him."

Andrew and Shiori gasped.

"Jaden don't go!" The ritual duelist told him.

"Why not?"

"Because Crowler is obviously setting you up." Andrew replied. "The Duel Giant is dueling the Obelisks with that Ante Rule, which is forbidden on the island. So if you duel the Giant with that rule and turn him in, Crowler will have enough evidence to get you expelled."

The other Slifers gasped.

"I knew it! Crowler is still trying to get rid of Jaden!" Syrus exclaimed

"So, I won't be free from homework?" Jaden asked dumbly. Everyone fell to the ground after the statement, unable to understand Jaden's stupidity. Shiori got up and gave him an angry look, making him take a step back.

"How stupid can you be!? Crowler is trying to kick you off the island, and all you're worried about is homework!?"

"Uh…"

The ritual duelist sighed. "Why do I even bother?"

Jaden then smiled. "Don't worry guys. Everything's going to be fine…"

"No Jaden!" Andrew interrupted him. "I won't let you take the risk of getting expelled. I'm going to duel the giant."

Jaden pouted. "No way, bro. I'm going to…"

"I said no! I won't let you get expelled by some girly headmaster, who can't handle the fact that he actually lost to you." Andrew and Jaden stared at each other for a few seconds before the former sighed. "Okay, I'll make you a deal; I'll duel this guy and you can come with me and watch, just promise me you'll get your homework done so Crowler won't have another reason to torture you."

"Gotcha." Jaden caved in. "Plus, I have a pretty good idea who the giant is."

"Then meet me at the front of the academy before midnight."

"Roger that. See you then!" He ran off, leaving the arena with Chumley and Syrus following after him.

Matt stayed with Andrew and Shiori. "You sure want to do this?"

"Yeah. I'm not gonna let my friends get into danger."

"Well I won't stop you. Cuz I won't pass the opportunity to see someone take down a giant." Shiori admitted.

Andrew smiled. "Then let's go."

* * *

It was almost midnight and the four Slifers and two Ras were hiding behind a large stone near the front entrance. Jaden, Andrew and Shiori were peering around the stone, looking for any sign of the Duel Giant. Matt was sitting calmly behind them, while Syrus and Chumley were a little spooked out by the night.

"You really think the giant will show up tonight?" Syrus asked

"Shh." Jaden silenced him. "Not if we keep blabbering."

"Yeah, so be quiet." Matt added.

"Look, there's two things I do with my mouth." Chumley said. "Talk or eat, so either give me a grilled cheese or…" He was then interrupted by a scream that echoed through the air.

"That's our cue!" Andrew said. "Let's go!"

"Aw, not running."

The boys ran for a while, until they found an Obelisk Blue boy kneeling down on the ground, his deck scattered around him.

"You okay?" Matt asked.

"The Duel Giant took my best card." The Obelisk moaned.

"Where did he go?" Shiori asked.

The Obelisk pointed ahead and the group continued the running.

"He's from the arena." Chumley realized as they passed by him.

The group kept running until Jaden found someone in a clearing. It was a giant figure with many Obelisk blazers covering him."Hold it!" He shouted. The figure turned around to show some black shades covering his eyes and a duel disk on his arm. "Caught ya big guy. Not so quick on your feet, are you?"

"Uhh, you know what Jaden?" Syrus asked, clearly frightened at the size of the giant figure. "I don't think he really needs to be. I mean, who in their right mind chases giant?"

"Me…" Andrew said as he stepped up. "Let get this duel started!"

The giant groaned in response

Andrew's deck glowed and Phantom Magician floated next to him. _"Andrew, put me up for grabs."_

"Are you sure?" Andrew asked. The spirit nodded. "Alright then, I guess we're in this together." The spirit then faded away as Andrew held up the Phantom Magician card. "Okay, since I know you only duel playing with ante, I'll put this card up."

"So be it, duelist." The giant agreed.

The activated their duel disks, inserted their decks and drew their cards.

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Duel Giant: 4000**

"Get your game on, Andrew!" Jaden cheered.

"You get the first move." Andrew offered.

"If you insist!" The giant replied as he drew a card. "I summon Giant Orc in attack mode!" A muscular orc that was around the same size as the giant appeared. It had a big bone club in its hand. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF: 0 LV: 4)

"A monster that big is quite fitting for the so called Duel Giant." Matt commented.

"Yeah, but that first move was the first mistake." Jaden replied. "See, when Orc attacks, he switches to defense mode. That wouldn't be a problem, except that he has a grand total of 0 defense points."

"Make your move, duelist." The giant said.

"Fine, I draw." Andrew drew a card and apparently, it was Phantom Magician.

 _"Andrew, place me on the field."_

"Sounds like a good idea. I play Phantom Magician in defense mode!" The skeletal spellcaster appeared in front of Andrew. (ATK: 600 **DEF: 700** LV: 3) "Your turn, big guy."

"And it will be one to remember. First I draw, then I'll attack with Giant Orc. Bone Basher!" The fiend roared and brought down its bone club onto Phantom Magician.

Andrew coughed before smirking. "Thank you. By destroying my Phantom Magician, you activated his special ability. I get to summon a HERO monster with 1000 or less attack points in defense mode. I choose Elemental HERO Woodsman." The green-skinned wooden man appeared in front of him.(ATK: 1000 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4) "And since your Giant Orc attacked, his battle mode changes to defense." The fiend crossed his arms while kneeling down.

"Not that he has any." Jaden added.

"Not that he needs any." The giant said, making his opponent and the spectators confused. "I summon Second Goblin in attack mode." But instead of playing the card in the monster card zone, he played it in the spell/trap zone.

"Wait! That's a monster, but he's playing it as a spell." Syrus noted.

Shiori widened his eyes. "It's a union monster."

"A what?" Chumley asked.

"A union monster." Matt replied. "A monster that can be used as an equip spell to boost a monster's attack or defense points or give it an effect to compensate for any mishaps. Every union monster can be equipped to a specific monster."

"That doesn't sound good." Jaden commented.

The giant chuckled. "That's right, especially since my Second Goblin can become a spell that has the power to switch my Giant Orc from defense to offense." A small pinkish goblin with an eye patch appeared on the orc's shoulder. And then, it stood up.

"To offense?" Syrus gasped.

"What's offensive is his face." Chumley commented.

"Yeah, can't you wrap a couple of blazers around him?" Jaden cracked.

"Make your move, Ra!"

"Okay." Andrew drew a card. "And now I activate my Woodsman's special ability. During my standby phase, I can take a Polymerization from my deck or graveyard and add it to my hand." He took the card in question from his deck. "And I'll use it to fuse Elemental HERO Shadow Mist and Elemental HERO Woodsman to form Elemental HERO Gaia." The wooden warrior jumped into the fusion vortex along with the dark armored woman and came out in the combined form of the black armored Giant. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF: 2600 LV: 6)

"Now that's a real giant!" Jaden cheered.

"Nice going, Andrew!" Shiori added.

"And since Gaia was fusion summoned, he absorbs half of your monster's attack points for one turn. So you know what that means."

The Duel Giant stepped back as Andrew's monster held up its right palm and absorbed energy from his fiend monster. ( **ATK: 2200-1100** ) ( **ATK: 2200-3300** )

"And there's more. Since Shadow Mist was sent to the graveyard, I can use her special ability to add another HERO monster in my deck to my hand. I choose Elemental HERO Knospe and I think I'll summon her to the field." The little plant-like hero showed up next to Gaia. ( **ATK: 600** DEF: 1000 LV: 3) "And since I have another Elemental HERO on the field, you can't attack her. And additionally, she can attack you directly. Now attack with Seed Blast!" The plant-like hero fired seeds from its open buds. The giant braced himself as he was bombarded by those seeds.

 **Duel Giant: 4000-3400**

"And with her direct attack successful, Knospe will gain 100 attack points while losing 100 defense points." The little plant glowed for a moment due to the power boost. ( **ATK: 600-700** DEF: 1000-900)

"And even though your Second Goblin will save your Giant Orc from being destroyed in battle, this attack will at least wipe out most of your life points. Now Gaia, attack with Continent Smash!" The black armored giant raised his right arm, preparing to strike. The Second Goblin jumped off from Giant Orc's shoulder and stood right in front. The Elemental hero slammed the little fiend with ease, crushing it like a bug.

 **Duel Giant: 3400-1200**

The attack was so strong that its shockwave blew away the blazers the giant was wearing, revealing a familiar, big sized Ra Yellow student.

"Yup." Jaden said.

"It's Beauregard!" Syrus said.

"I thought he couldn't duel." Chumley said.

"Me too." Shiori added.

"What's this all about. Beauregard?" Andrew asked.

The big Ra became nervous and turned his head slightly, showing a transmitter in his ear. "What should I do?"

"You can stop the charade for starters." Jaden replied, pointing to a rock behind Beauregard. "How about the real Duel Giant comes out now?"

Everyone was confused at his words, until they saw Brier climbing over the rock, also wearing a headset.

"Brier!?" Matt exclaimed.

"So then it was him?" Chumley asked.

"But why?" Syrus added.

Andrew and Shiori were as shocked as the rest of the group. But it was then it hit Andrew. "Now I see…"

"Catching on, aren't ya Andrew?" Jaden praised.

"How did you know?" Brier asked.

"Well, back at the arena, I felt how mad you were at those Obelisks. Then, when I saw this big guy was your friend, it started to come together."

"But I lost that duel you saw." Brier reminded him. "Why would you think I could beat all those Obelisks?"

"Because I heard that you were a great duelist, only problem was you had stage fright. Which cleared up why the Duel Giant only came out at night. And used a radio transmitter."

"And don't forget the fact that you told Jaden and the others that the Duel Giant didn't exist. And you did that _after_ you talked about the giant with me and Shiori." Andrew added.

"Well it's over now." Syrus said. "Just give back the cards and…"

"What do you mean over!? Nothing's over!" Brier yelled, making Syrus shrink back. "I won't just go home being 'Little Brier' again. Everyone makes fun of me. They say I'm small, a shrimp. I'm tired of them always laughing at me! Don't you see? That's why I get nervous. I couldn't concentrate." He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Then I met Beauregard. They teased him too. So we decided to make a promise. We get all of them back, right where it hurt the most!"

* * *

 **Flashback**

Brier and Beauregard were in a dimly light room, looking over the cards they had on the floor, building a deck.

"And we'll play with the ante rule. So if they lose, they'll give us their best card." Brier explained.

"But what if we get caught?" Beauregard asked worriedly.

"You just let me worry about all that." The small Ra smiled slyly.

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"Of course, that's why you put on the costume." Syrus realized.

"So you wouldn't get caught for breaking the rules." Jaden added.

"That's right." Brier replied.

"Well, what now? Your secret's out. Pretty soon everyone's gonna know who you are, including Dr. Crowler." Jaden said.

"That is, unless you and I continue this duel. I know you got skills, Brier. So let's keep dueling, out in the open." Andrew said with a smile.

Brier stared at him for a moment before he shook his head. "Out in the open? Well I guess you're not giving me any choice!" He looked at his friend. "Let's do this."

"Yeah." Beauregard replied.

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Brier/Beauregard: 1200**

"I place a card facedown." A card appeared behind Knospe. "Then it's your move." ( **ATK: 3300-2200** )

"Draw Beauregard!" After his friend drew a card, Brier looked at his hand. "I summon Goblin King in attack mode." A smaller green goblin with a tiny crown, wearing a long, red robe appeared. ( **ATK: 0** DEF: 0 LV: 1)

"Zero attack points?" Matt asked.

"Not for long. See, now for each warrior monster that I sent to the graveyard, I can summon a Half Goblin." While Brier explained, Beauregard discarded two warrior monsters. And then, two green goblins appeared. They were wearing turban-like hats and leather chest plates, blocking with their knives. "Go, defense mode!" (ATK: 500 **DEF: 500** LV: 3) "Now I play Goblin King's special ability. It lets him gain a thousand attack and defense points for every fiend monster on the field other than himself. And I have 3 of them!" The royal goblin cried out as it grew bigger within its robes. ( **ATK: 0-3000** DEF: 0-3000)

"What the…?" Jaden said

"3000 attack points?" Chumley asked in astonishment.

"So not good." Syrus stated.

"Looks like Andrew is in trouble now." Shiori added.

"And then I play Monster Reborn which lets me summon a monster from my graveyard, like Second Goblin." The pinkish fiend monster reappeared on the field. ( **ATK: 100** DEF: 100 LV: 1) "And with another fiend on the field, my Goblin King gets stronger." The royal goblin glowed with a blue aura. ( **ATK: 3000-4000** DEF: 3000-4000)

"4000 points!" Andrew exclaimed.

"Now Goblin King! Attack Gaia!" The more powerful goblin gave the giant hero a powerful punch, causing him to fall to his knees before exploding.

 **Andrew: 4000-2200**

"Now Giant Orc, attack Andrew's Knospe with Bone Basher!" The orc was about to smash the plant-like hero with its bone club.

"I play my trap card, Blast with Chain." The facedown card flipped up. "This gives my monster 500 extra attack points." The trap gave Knospe a bunch of dynamites." ( **ATK: 700-1200** )

"My monster is still stronger." The orc smashed the little plant-like hero with its bone club, destroying her with ease.

 **Andrew: 2200-1200**

"And now I attack with my Second Goblin." The little goblin ran up to Andrew and gave him a punch in the face.

 **Andrew: 1200-1100**

"And in case you forgot, your Phantom Magician's still up for grabs."

"Whoa! Now Brier has the upper hand." Matt pointed out.

"Yeah. It's just like Jaden said. Without his stage fright, he can duel great." Shiori said.

"And finally, I'll use my Second Goblin's ability so I can use him as a spell card again." The Second Goblin jumped up on Giant Orc's shoulder and used a towel to fan it, making it stand up. Since the goblin became an equip card again, Goblin King got weaker. ( **ATK: 4000-3000** DEF: 4000-3000) "Face it, you're about to lose, Andrew. Especially since my Goblin's effect has just switched my Orc back to attack mode. Your Magician... soon he's gonna be all mine."

"You want him, well then you're gonna have to earn him. And I'm not gonna make it easy for you, cuz even though you and I are from the same dorm, I'm gonna give you my very best."

"Now it's my turn." Andrew looked at the card he drew. "This should do nicely. I play the spell card Pot of Greed. It lets me draw two cards." He drew two cards. "And it looks like one of them happens to be the spell card Legacy of a Hero. If I have at least two level 4 or higher Elemental heroes in my graveyard, I can draw three more cards." Andrew three more cards. And next I activate the spell card A Hero Lives. By paying half my life points, I can summon a level 4 or lower Elemental HERO from my deck since I have no face up monsters on the field. So meet my Elemental HERO Blazeman."

 **Andrew: 1100-0550**

The flame-headed hero stood up on the field. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF 1800: 4) "And with him summoned, I can take another Polymerization from my deck and add it to my hand." He took the named card from his deck. "And then I play another spell card, HERO's Bond. With my HERO monster on the field, I can summon two level 4 or lower Elemental heroes from my hand. So I'll bring out Elemental HERO Stratos and Heat." The turbine winged hero rose up along with the white and red armored warrior. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 300 LV: 4) ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1200 LV: 4)

"Wow! 3 monsters in one turn." Chumley said.

"What a sweet move." Jaden commented.

"And it gets better, because now I can activate Stratos' ability. He can destroy spell or trap cards on the field, up to the number of HERO monsters other than himself. And there's only one card on the field that's acting as a spell card: Second Goblin." The wind hero used his turbine wings to create a cyclone that blew the little goblin away.

"Oh no!"

"Oh yes. And Heat gains 200 attack points for every Elemental HERO on my field, thanks to his special ability." The monster in question glowed with a red aura. ( **ATK: 1600-2200** ) "And now I play my own Monster Reborn. And I'll use it to bring back Elemental HERO Woodsman." The wooden hero reappeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 2000: LV: 4) ( **ATK: 2200-2400** ) "Next I play Polymerization and combine Woodsman on the field and Ocean in my hand to create Elemental HERO Terra Firma!" The two heroes swirled about each other to form the white armored hero with gems on his shoulders and chest plate. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 2000 LV: 8) "Normally I would sacrifice an Elemental HERO to to give its attack points to him, but that won't be necessary. Elemental HERO Heat, attack Giant Orc with Burning Fist!" The named hero ignited his right fist and destroyed the fiend with a burning punch.

 **Brier/Beauregard: 1200-1000**

"And now to take down your two Half Goblins. Stratos, Blazeman, attack!" The two heroes dashed forward, each of them destroyed one Half Goblin with one punch. "And with no other fiend type monsters for protection, your Goblin King is down for. Especially without his extra points." The royal goblin became smaller than it was before. ( **ATK: 3000-0** DEF: 3000-0) "Go, Terra Firma! Attack with Earthen Fury!" The white armored hero roared and smashed the Goblin King so powerfully that he exploded, making the opposing Ra students to fall down.

 **Brier/Beauregard: 1000-0000**

"Hey, you did it!" Syrus cheered.

"Nice one Andrew." Jaden said.

"Now 'Andrew the Giant Slayer'." Chumley added.

"Good one, Chumley." Matt responded.

While Brier and Beauregard were on their knees, the former lowered his head. "They beat us. We're through."

"No, not 'we'." The bigger Ra said before turning to Jaden and the others. "Please, just turn me in, forget Brier."

"Huh? Beauregard?" Brier looked at his friend.

"I've always been alone and I'm not gonna let them expel you for showing me what it means to have a friend. After all, didn't we always promise to stand up for each other?"

Brier just stared at him.

"You're the best duelist I've ever seen. I won't let them kick you out of here."

"What about you? Your dream of being a game designer?"

Beauregard gave Brier a small smile. "Not all dreams come true."

The smaller Ra looked like he was about to shed tears. "Beauregard…"

"Hold everything!" Jaden called out, getting their attention. "We're not gonna turn either of you two in. I know what it's like to be made fun of. Everyone gets a dose of that sometimes. We're cool."

"What?" Brier said confused.

"We only said we'd turn you in so that you'd come out. You know? Duel me in the open, and realize that you could." Andrew added. "It was a close duel, Brier. You should be proud."

"You know Andrew, I guess you're right." Brier admitted while getting up. "I did play well, in front of people too. Maybe I can do it again."

"Of course you can. I just hope it's not against me." Jaden said jokingly, making the small Ra laugh.

"And don't forget what me and Shiori told you earlier; if something's troubling you, just let us know." Andrew said.

"Thanks Andrew, and I'm sorry for lying to you two back at the arena."

"It's okay."

"Apology accepted." The ritual duelist added.

"Now get out of here, before Dr. Crowler catches you." Jaden warned the two Ras.

"Thanks guys! We'll make good!" Brier called out while running away with Beauregard.

"Hey, wait up!" His friend called out as he tried to catch up with him.

The group watched the two friends leave until Shiori broke the silence. "Well with that settled, Bier's going to return all those rare cards."

"Yeah." Matt said

"Um." Syrus was was now looking embarrassed. "I just realized something."

Jaden looked at him.

"Because we let him go, we're gonna have to start doing homework again."

The brown-haired Slifer moaned at this.

"You mean you didn't do the homework like I told you?" Andrew asked.

"I guess we... kinda forgot about it."

Andrew shook his head. "Unbelievable.

Shiori and Matt laughed at this.

"You guys better get your pen sharpeners ready." The flip duelist cracked.

* * *

Next day in the morning, Jaden and Syrus had to catch up on the homework they missed, were assigned by extra homework. And that extra homework was big piles of papers. The two Slifers were filling them as fast as they could. Chumley was sitting behind them and watched. As for Crowler, he wasn't exactly satisfied by the news of the Duel Giant...

"So let me get this straight, you found the Duel Giant, beat him, and then he was able to escape!"

"Yup, that's what happened teach." Jaden replied as he sped through the papers he was given. "Last I saw, he was headed up a beanstalk or something."

"And you're saying you didn't duel using the illegal ante rule, but all the other Obelisks did?"

"Did they? I heard they all just kind of lost their cards... temporarily."

Crowler blinked in confusion at that statement.

* * *

Meanwhile, the mentioned Obelisks were standing at front entrance of the academy building, talking about some good news.

"Yeah, I found my rare card this morning too."

"Dude, it just turned up in my deck."

"My baby, I missed you so much."

Brier and Beauregard were standing nearby and overheard their conversation. they then smiled to each other.

Andrew, Shiori and Matt were also nearby, listening the Obelisks conversation.

"It seems Brier and Beauregard gave back those cards." Andrew said.

"Yeah, it seems it's all back to normal, huh?" Shiori replied.

"Unfortunately, that includes getting tortured by Dr. Crowler." Matt added.

Andrew shook his head. "Oh yeah. I imagine how terrible it is for Jaden and Syrus right now."

* * *

Back in the classroom, Crowler was having a hard time to process of what Jaden told him. "So first you find the Duel Giant, then he escapes? First all those cards were lost, now they're found?"

"First I have no homework, and now…"

"KEEP WRITING!"

* * *

 **Okay, that should do. Now I can focus on my work for my next chapter. Until next time.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Sandwich and Card Robbery**

After finishing today's classes, Jaden, Syrus and Andrew were running down the hallway leading to the card shack.

"Jaden, wait up!" Syrus called out.

"I can't! Not on Sandwich Day!"

Eventually, they made it to the card shack, were a bunch of Slifer and Ra were crowding around a bin of packaged sandwiches. The packages had the Duel Academy logo on them. All three of them walked up to the bin and looked inside.

"Isn't Sandwich Day just the greatest, guys?" Jaden asked. "All these choices and not one of them labeled."

"How's that the greatest, Jaden?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah, there are ostrich burgers, grilled tongue sandwiches, or a half-dozen other mystery meals that aren't exactly tasty." Andrew said.

"Yeah, but there's one good one. Compliments of that magical rooster that lays the golden egg."

"That's crazy talk Jaden. Everyone knows roosters can't lay eggs." Syrus said.

"Not to mention golden ones." Andrew added.

"Look, the point is that eggwich is delicious, and well worth rooting through all those other nasty items to snag."

"Well, good luck. It's been five weeks since you've been able to draw it." The smaller Slifer said.

"Here goes." Jaden picked up a sandwich, tore open the package and took a bite… "Ugh!"

"Wrong sandwich it seems." Andrew said, looking at the Slifer's disgusted face.

"Grilled tongue." He whined as he dropped to his knees.

"I guess you're just in a slump, Jaden." Syrus said. "But I'm sure you'll get over it soon."

"Better a bad draw here than during a duel."

The boys turned around to see Alexis holding up two non-eggwiches in her hands.

"Hey Alexis." Andrew greeted.

"Oh, so you took the eggwich to have lunch with me, huh?" Jaden said.

That comment caused Alexis to blush. "I did no such thing!" She retorted. "I was just practicing my draws!"

"Sure you were." Jaden continued his teasing.

"Yeah, I was!"

"Alexis didn't draw the eggwich, Jaden." Everyone saw Jenny and Ms. Dorothy come up to them. "From what I've heard from Ms. Dorothy, nobody has been able to draw the eggwich for the last five weeks."

The group gasped.

"At least no one I know." Dorothy added. "Someone must be sneaking in and stealing them."

"Stealing them?" Alexis asked.

"Whoa, that thief must be pretty good to be able to draw it week after week." Syrus noted. That made Jaden angry, scaring the little guy.

"It's true. None of the other sandwiches are opened. Anyway, I'm sorry." Dorthy said as she lowered her head.

"Don't be like that, Ms Dorothy. It's not your fault." Andrew consoled her.

"That's right. It's this eggwich thief's fault, which is why we're gonna do something about it." Jaden declared.

"Hold on, we are?" Syrus asked.

"Yup. We're going on sandwich stake out 24/7."

"Great." The smaller Slifer replied with a smile, but then realized what Jaden said. "What!?"

"Sounds like a good idea." Andrew said.

"In that case, we better get ready for tonight." Jenny added.

"Oh thank you so much." Dorothy said gratefully. "Shiori could use some help for his own stake out."

Everyone blinked. "Shiori?" Andrew repeated.

The person in question came up to them at that moment. "Hey guys."

"Hey Shiori." Jaden greeted. "What's this about you being on your own stake out?"

The ritual duelist frowned. "Well, something bad has been going on here, besides this eggwich thief. Come here." The group followed him to Dorothy's office and stopped at a table. What they saw on the table was something very shocking; a bunch of open booster packs and cards.

"Whoa! What is this?" Andrew asked.

"Someone has been sneaking into the card shop at the last few nights, leaving all of these on the floor. It's possible that this person was trying to get a certain card from one of these packs." Shiori explained.

"I can't believe someone would do something like that." Alexis said.

"Could this card thief and the eggwich thief be the same person?" Syrus asked.

Shiori shook his head. "I doubt it. Like I said, the person responsible for this mess did it during a few nights."

"So we got two thieves to deal with." Jaden said.

Andrew looked over the cards on the floor, and noticed a familiar ritual card. "Oh, that's Black Illusion Ritual. So you can get a Relinquished from this kind of booster pack."

Shiori smirked. "Got that right. These booster packs are limited here. In fact I bought one of these packs last week, and was lucky enough to get this one." He held up a card and showed it to everyone. It was a fusion monster card. The monster in the picture was something unique. It looked similar to Relinquished. But the body of this creature had a nasty purple color and was covered by tons of little eyes. And the part of the body where it would have been Relinquished's grey circle was a mouth with sharp teeth.

The group gasped.

"No way! That's Thousand-Eyes Restrict!" Jaden pointed out.

"One of the most rarest cards in the game." Jenny added.

"You really are lucky, Shiori." Andrew said, amazement in his voice.

"I know, right?" He replied before pocketing it. "Anyway, we better prepare ourselves for tonight."

Everyone nodded. But no one noticed a person standing outside the office and eavesdropped the conversation.

"Interesting. Maybe I can use this to my advantage to get the card I want." The person said.

* * *

Later that night, the Slifer trio (including Chumley), Andrew, Shiori, Alexis and Jenny were hanging out in Dorothy's office. Andrew, Shiori and Chumley were watching as Jaden and Syrus played a regular card game. Alexis and Jenny were reading for their homework.

"Quiet, it's coming. Slowly, slowly. Here it comes." Jaden said as he was about pick one of the cards from a nervous Syrus, who by the way had two cards in his hand. A joker and a spade 4. "This one…" The card Jaden took was the spade 4. "Yep, high card!"

"Nice one, Jaden." Andrew commented.

"Picking cards, drawing cards, amazing." Syrus said.

"Why thank you." Jaden said.

"So you think when this sandwich thief guy comes, he's gonna have anything on him?"

"For the last time, Chumley, he steals egg-sandwiches, not grilled cheese." Shiori said. "Would you tell him Alexis?"

"It's true Chum." She said, momentarily taking her eyes off the book she was reading.

"Hey, what's Lex doing over there anyhow?" Jaden whispered to the gang.

"Maybe homework." Andrew guessed.

 _'What I'm doing is waiting for this thief to come. Who knows? He may have something to do with my missing brother, and all the others.'_

Jenny gave her a look, knowing exactly what she was thinking.

"Who want some stake out snacks?" Dorothy asked as she entered the office, carrying a plate of pastries. "Here, dig in." She placed the plate on the table

"Grilled cheese?" Chumley asked before he noticed the tray. "Aw, what are those?"

"You really need to cut down on that, Chumley." Jenny said.

"These look tasty." Andrew said, referring to the tray.

"Thank you." Dorothy replied. "These are my special stuffed pastries. Three kinds. We have strawberry, chocolate and lemon custard as well."

"Thanks Ms. Dorothy." Syrus said.

"What's most like grilled cheese?" Chumley asked.

"Enough with your grilled cheese nonsense." Shiori said with an annoyed tone. "Which one of these is lemon custard?" He asked.

"Oh, it's right…"

"Wait!" Jaden interrupted Dorothy. "We should draw, and try to pick what we want. I want strawberry."

"Wait Jaden. So you want to draw pastries like cards?" Chumley asked.

"That's a good idea." Syrus said.

"Go for it, Jaden." Alexis encouraged.

"Alright, wish me luck." Jaden grabbed one of pastries, took a bite and showed everyone its red filling. "Strawberry!"

"On your first try too, Jaden. Way to go!" Syrus said.

"It's good to know I still got it. You know, for when we get that eggwich back. I can almost taste it already."

"Okay, I'll give it a try." Andrew declared, but before he picked one, he turned to Jenny. "Which one do you want, Jenny?"

The girl blinked. "What? You're picking one for me?"

Andrew smiled confidently. "Why not? I'm sure I can pick the one you want. So, which one?"

Jenny stood there in silent until she made up her mind. "Chocolate."

"Okay then." Andrew looked over the pastries carefully and picked one. He handed it to Jenny who took a bite. Everyone watched as she widened her eyes.

"Wow! You picked right."

Everyone else was amazed.

"Nice one, Andrew." Shiori complimented. "You sure know how to pick one."

"Thank you."

Eventually, everyone settled down to enjoy their midnight snack. But it wasn't that long until they heard sounds from outside the shop.

"Someone's coming." Jenny whispered. "Let's hide."

They turned off the light and all hid in different places around the office. When they heard the sliding door being lifted up, they moved to see through the glass door.

"It's the eggwich thief." Jaden said.

"He's an animal." Syrus commented as the mysterious person crawled under the door and went over to the sandwich bin.

"Let's get that eggwich thief." Shiori said as he was about to open the door.

But he was stopped by Alexis. "Wait! Someone else is coming."

Everyone looked and saw someone else crawling under the sliding door. Even though it was too dark to see the appearance of this person, they at least noticed that they were smaller than the first intruder. They watched as the second intruder snuck around the first one and went over to one of the shelfs to take a few booster packs.

"That must be the card thief." Shiori said.

Meanwhile, the one standing at the sandwich bin pulled one of the sandwiches out with a satisfied look on his face.

"Now!" Jaden said. They opened the door and turned on the lights, surprising the thieves. The one at the sandwich bin turned out be a muscular boy with long black hair and only wearing a pair of torn up khakis. The other person turned out to be an Obelisk boy, based on his blue uniform, wearing a black mask. "Stop you thieves!"

"Put the eggwich down!" Syrus added.

Dorothy gasped in surprised when she saw the muscular boy.

As for Shiori, he immediately approached the masked boy. "Alright pal, let go of those booster packs."

The masked boy grinned. "As you wish…" He replied as he dropped the packs...

"Agh!"

And slugged Shiori in his stomach, causing him to kneel down and grunt in pain. He then reached into the ritual duelist's pocket and took a familiar card from him.

"I'll take this." He said with a satisfied smile.

"M-my Thousand-Eyes Restrict." Shiori muttered.

Everyone gasped at this. But it didn't take long for Andrew to get angry. "Why you... That was just…" But before he could finish his sentence...

"Ah-ah-ahhhhhhh!" The eggwich thief let out a Tarzan yell and rolled out the shack with the sandwich bin, breaking the door.

"Whoa!" Jaden gasped. By the time Shiori recovered and got up on his feet, everyone noticed the Obelisk boy run away, with his card in hand.

"Time to go!" He said.

"Stop!" The group ran after the thieves.

"Jaden!" Andrew called out. "Me, Shiori and Jenny will get that Obelisk. You guys go after the other guy!"

"Got it!" With that, the group split up.

* * *

Jaden's group followed the muscular boy to the roof top of the academy building. "Oh boy He can really move."

 _'This guy's definitely got something to hide. There's no way we can let him get away.'_ Alexis thought.

When the muscular boy reached the edge, he jumped off into the trees, swinging on vines while letting out another Tarzan yell.

"Finally, we can stop running." Chumley said.

"Oh no, we can't." Jaden replied and ran off, followed by the others. "We gotta cut him off, or we'll never get those eggwiches back.

* * *

Andrew's group continued their pursuit, following the Obelisk boy into the forest.

"That guy is fast." Shiori commented.

"Come on. We can't let him get away." Jenny replied.

"Not on our watch." Andrew said.

They kept chasing him through the forest until he turned to left and came out of the forest... only to arrive at a cliff with a tree. The same place where Jaden dueled the monkey Wheeler.

"Oh crud." The Obelisk boy said. He turned around to see Andrew and the others arrive.

"End of the line." Andrew declared.

"You have no way to run, so just give up." Jenny said sternly.

"Yeah, hand over the card you stole from me!" Shiori demanded.

"Hmph, fat chance, loser. This card is mine." The thief said.

"You can't just steal someone else's card like that." Jenny argued. "Why can't you just buy the booster packs?"

"Because it would be waste of my money to try my luck on some packs."

"So you decided to become a thief? That's just low." Andrew said sternly.

"It's none of your business!" The thief snapped.

"Well it is now." Shiori said glaring at him as he stepped forward. "Especially since you stole _my_ card. Hand it over, right now!"

The thief grunted before an idea popped in his mind. He gave them a sly look. "Okay, I'll give it to you."

"Huh?" The trio was confused by his words.

"Really? That was easy." Andrew said.

The thief however held up one hand. "Stop right there. I have one condition for giving it to you."

Shiori raised an eyebrow. "And that would be."

From out of nowhere, the thief picked up a duel disk. "We're dueling. The winner gets the card."

The trio gasped at this.

"You can't be serious." Jenny said.

Shiori however thought for a moment before he stepped forward. "All right. If you want to duel for it, then I'l duel you."

"You sure about this?" Andrew asked.

"I don't think he's giving us another choice, so yes."

With that said. the two duelists took their positions and activated their duel disks.

"Duel!"

 **Shiori: 4000**

 **Thief:** **4000**

"I'll go first." Shiori declared as he drew his sixth card. "And I'll start by summoning Manju of the Ten Thousands Hands." The grayish humanoid creature with many hands stood tall on his field. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "With this monster summoned to the field, I can add any ritual monster or spell card from my deck to my hand. So I'll take Shinato's Ark." He took the named spell card from his deck and revealed it from adding it to is hand. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"My move then." The thief drew a card and smirked. "This should be good. I summon Griggle in attack mode." A tiny little turnip in blue boots appeared. ( **ATK: 350** DEF: 300 LV: 1)

Shiori and the other were surprised by the thief's opening move.

"A monster with only 350 attack points?" Andrew asked.

"What's he planning to do with that?" Jenny wondered.

"Griggle is something that can be pretty useful if used correctly. And I have just the card that lets me do so…" After the thief inserted a card into his duel disk, a spell card appeared. "I play Creature Swap. It makes each player to choose a monster on their own side of the field. And then, both monsters are forced to switch places. Of course there's only one monster on each side, so…" Everyone watched as Griggle and Manju switched places.

"So he played a weak monster, and used a spell card to give it to Shiori while taking his monster." Andrew summarized. "But that's all the Creature Swap card is all about…"

"Hold on! Something is happening to Griggle." Jenny pointed out.

True to her words, something _was_ happening to the monster in question. It was glowing with a blue aura. And suddenly, the thief was surrounded by the same kind of aura. And then...

 **Thief: 4000-7000**

Everyone gasped at this.

"What!? What just happened?" Shiori asked.

"This is Griggle's ability." The thief responded. "After the control of it shifts to my opponent, it gives me 3000 extra life points."

"So it wasn't just about to take control of Shiori's monster. He used the spell card to trigger Griggle's effect." Andrew realized.

"That is an effective combo." Jenny admitted.

"And now I think it's time to take away some of your life points. Now Manju, destroy his Griggle!" The multi-handed creature ran over to Shiori's field and smashed the little turnip.

 **Shiori: 4000-2950**

"I place a card facedown and end my turn." The thief concluded as a card appeared behind Manju."

"My move." Shiori drew a card. "I summon Alexandrite Dragon in attack mode." The majestic dragon rose up on the field. ( **ATK: 2000** DEF: 100 LV: 4) "Sorry about this Manju." Shiori muttered. "Alexandrite Dragon, attack!" The dragon let out a stream of fire, destroying Manju easily.

 **Thief: 7000-6400**

"Heh. That was nothing." The thief scoffed.

Shiori However ignored the thief's insult. "I activate the trap card Call of the Haunted. This lets me summon a monster back from my graveyard, and I'll resurrect my Manju." The multi-handed creature appeared beside the dragon. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "Since this was a special summon, I can't add any ritual card to my hand. But I can attack with Manju. Now go!" The monster in question dashed forward and gave the thief a strong punch on his face.

 **Thief: 6400-5000**

"I end my turn." Shiori concluded.

"Okay then." The thief drew his next card. "I play a facedown monster in defense mode and end my turn." A facedown monster card appeared.

"Then here goes." Shiori said. "I activate the spell card Pot of Greed. So I get two cards." He drew his two cards and looked at them. _'Ah, Shinato. I should save him for later.'_  
"I play Graceful Charity. I can draw three cards from my deck, and then must discard two." Shiori drew three cards, looked at them, and smirked before he discarded two of them. "And now I activate the spell card Emblem of the Awakening. This lets me ritual summon a monster by sacrificing monsters with a total 4 or higher. So I sacrifice Djinn Demolisher of Rituals…" A fat fiend with light-red skin wielding a massive axe appeared for a moment before disappearing. (ATK: 1500 DEF: 600 **LV: 3** ) "and Djinn Disserere of Rituals from my hand…" The brown-skinned fiend with his big shield appeared for a moment as well. (ATK: 200 DEF: 200 **LV: 1** ) "in order to summon Cú Chulainn the Awakened." And so, the heavy-armored, spear wielding warrior appeared next to Manju. ( **ATK: 500** DEF: 1000 LV: 4)

"Hahaha! A monster with 500 attack points? I'm shaking in my boots." The thief mocked.

Shiori however smirked. "Well, you would be, if you were aware of his special ability."

"Huh?"

"Once per turn, I can take a normal monster from my graveyard and remove it from play. After that, my Cú Chulainn absorbs that monster's attack points until my next standby phase."

"And I bet Shiori discarded at least one normal monster, thanks to Graceful Charity." Andrew said.

"Then let's see which monster he's going to remove." Jenny added.

The emblem around Cú Chulainn's neck glowed with a multicolored light. And then, a monster rose up on the field in front of him. It was the big, blue dragon type monster known as Tri-Horned Dragon. ( **ATK: 2850** DEF: 2350 LV: 8) "Now Cú Chulainn, absorb the Tri-Horned Dragon." The dragon was absorbed into the emblem and the warrior's body glowed with the same multicolored light from earlier. ( **ATK: 500-3350** )

"3350 attack points!?" The thief exclaimed.

"That's right and I'm about to use them all against you, but first I'm going to take care of your facedown monster. Manju, attack!" The monster with many hands dashed forward.

"Not so fast! I activate the trap card Magical Arm Shield." The thief's facedown card flipped up. "When you attack my monster, I can use this to take control one of your monsters, except the one you're attacking with. And then the monster I take will take the hit and remain on my field until the end of the battle phase. So how about to let me take your ritual monster?"

Once again, Shiori smirked. "Sorry, but that won't work."

"What!?"

"As you know, I sacrificed my two Djinn monsters to ritual summon him. And by doing that, each one of them gave him a special ability. From starters, my Disserere of Rituals gave him the ability to be immune to traps. And thanks to the Demolisher of Rituals, Cú Chulainn can't be targeted by any effect of your cards."

"Wow. That means Shiori's monster is completely safe from that guy's trap." Jenny commented.

Andrew smiled. "He certainly gave his monster a very good protection."

The thief growled. "Fine, I'll just take control of your dragon." The trap card summoned a shield with grabbing plungers. They reached out, grabbed Alexandrite Dragon and dragged over to the thief's side of the field. And when Manju was close enough, the dragon destroyed it with a stream of fire.

 **Shiori: 2950-2350**

"Okay, my Manju is gone, but I can destroy your facedown monster. Cú Chulainn, attack!" The warrior dashed forward and stabbed the facedown monster with his spear. The monster that was revealed before being destroyed was some kind of rafflesia with a mouth and sharp teeth. (ATK: 300 **DEF: 900** LV: 2)

"Rafflesia Seduction." Jenny mused.

"You know about that monster?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah. It's a monster with a flip effect that lets you take control of one of the opponent's monster for one turn." The fairy duelist then smiled. "Not that it matters."

Andrew smiled as well and nodded. It's true what she said. Since Cú Chulainn couldn't be targeted by the thief's card effects, that monster's flip effect was useless. And even if it worked, Shiori didn't have any other monster on the field.

"Alright, I can't attack you anymore this turn, so it's time for Alexandrite Dragon to return to me." The dragon in question flew over to Shiori's side. "I end my turn."

The thief growled. "Just you wait you punk." He drew a card. When he looked at it, he chuckled. "This should be fun. I summon Grinder Golem!" He held up that card glowed brightly. And then, everyone could feel the ground shaking. But that was nothing compared to what happened next. A big monster appeared on the field. And the most shocking part of this... is that this giant monster appeared behind Shiori. It was a humongous metallic behemoth with a buzz-saw blade for a head and spikes all over its body. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 300 LV: 8)

"What is this!?" Shiori asked while staring at the giant monster.

"Surprised? My Grinder Golem can't be summoned to my side of the field. I can only summon it to your side, by summoning two Grinder Tokens to my side." After hearing his explanation, everyone turned to his field. True to his words, two new monsters were standing on his field. They were like mini versions of Grinder Golem. ( **ATK: 0** DEF: 0 LV: 1) x2 "I place one card facedown and end my turn." A facedown card appeared behind the two tokens.

"Okay then." After Shiori drew a card, Cú Chulainn's attack strength returned to normal. ( **ATK: 3350-500** ) _'Let's see. It appears he could only summon those tokens in attack mode, so his facedown card must be something to protect them. But my Cú Chualinn can't be targeted by his card effects, or affected by his traps for that matter. But I better be careful though. cuz who knows what that guy will do?'_  
"First I'll switch Alexandrite Dragon and Grinder Golem to defense mode." The two monsters in question kneeled down. "Then I'll use Cú Chulainn's ability again. I remove Beast of Talvar from my graveyard to increase his attack strength." The winged demon appeared… ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 2150 LV: 6) and was absorbed into the emblem around the spear-wielding warrior's neck. ( **ATK: 500-2900** ) "Now attack one of the Grinder Tokens!" The warrior dashed forward and stabbed one of the tokens with his spear, making it explode.

 **Thief: 5000-2100**

"I end my turn."

"Looks like Shiori is taking the lead." Jenny stated.

"Yeah, but that was too easy." Andrew said slightly worried. "Sure, that facedown card could have been useless against his monster, but unless that thief is desperate, he must be planning _something_ with it."

Speaking of whom, the thief drew his next card and smirked when he saw what he got. "Well well well. It looks like I drew just what I need, and my bluff was worth it."

Shiori blinked. "Bluff?"

"That's right, my facedown card wasn't a trap card, but rather a spell card…" The card in question flipped up. "I activate Owner's Seal. This lets me return control of all monsters on the field to their original owners."

Shiori looked grim. "Which means…"

"Which means my Grinder Golem comes back to me." The mechanical giant disappeared from Shiori's side, and reappeared on the thief's side. "I can't believe you actually fell for my bluff. And that will cost you dearly. I summon Melchid the Four-Face Beast." A new monster appeared. It had a rotating array of masks. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And now for the best part; by sacrificing two monsters, including Melchid here, I can summon an incredibly powerful monster." The masked creature disappeared along with the remaining Grinder Token. And then, they were replaced by a monster that rose up next to Grinder Golem. It was a very tall, horned fiend with sharp claws and three blue masks. "Say hello to Masked Beast Des Gardius." ( **ATK: 3300** DEF: 2500 LV: 8)

"No way! 3300 attack points!" Shiori said.

"Way to to state the obvious." The thief replied. "And now I switch Grinder Golem to attack mode." The monster in question stood up. "Now take this! Grinder Golem, attack! Destroy his Alexandrite Dragon!" The mechanical giant slammed the dragon with its right arm. "And now it's your little warrior's turn. Des Gardius, attack!" The masked fiend used its sharp claws to slash Cú Chulainn to pieces.

 **Shiori: 2350-1950**

"I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Now Shiori is facing two powerful monsters. This is looking pretty grim." Jenny said.

"Especially how tricky that thief is. He's using so many cards with the power to take control of the opponent's monsters. What could be next?" Andrew wondered.

"I draw." Shiori drew a card. "First I place two cards facedown. And then I activate the spell, Card of Demise. Now I can draw until I have 5 cards in my hand." Since Shiori placed two facedown cards a moment ago, he had one card in his hand, so he drew four cards. He looked at the new cards and nodded. "Perfect. Now I summon Armored Zombie." The zombie warrior appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 0 LV: 3) "And then I activate one of the cards I placed facedown, Amulet of Ambition." After the named card flipped up, the familiar golden amulet appeared around the zombie's neck.

"What does that do?" The thief asked.

"You'll find out soon enough. But first things first. I activate my other facedown card, Shinato's Ark." The named ritual spell card flipped up.

The thief grinned at this for some reason. "A ritual spell, eh? Too bad your Djinns will be off limits."

"What?"

"I activate my trap, Imperial Iron Wall." The thief's facedown card flipped up. "As long as this card remains on the field, none of us can remove any cards from the game."

Shiori gasped. _'But that means I can't use the Djinn monsters in my graveyard._ _'_

"Oooh, not good." Andrew grimaced.

"No kidding. If Shiori can't remove his Djinn monsters from play, he can't use their effects." Jenny said.

"Okay, so I can't use the Djinn monsters in my graveyard, but I can use the one in my hand, Djinn Presider of Rituals." The green, chubby fiend with his rapier in hand appeared. (ATK: 1800 DEF: 1400 **LV: 4** ) "And to make sure I sacrifice monsters with a total level of 8, I'll add Battle Footballer in the mix." The familiar football player appeared next to the Djinn. (ATK: 1000 DEF: 2100 **LV: 4** ) And then, both monsters disappeared. "Now I summon Shinato, King of a Higher Plane." The two monsters were replaced by the blue-skinned angel. ( **ATK: 3300** DEF: 3000 LV: 8) "Say goodbye to your Grinder Golem. Now Shinato, attack with Divine Ring!" The golden winged angel created an energy ring that surrounded the giant machine and zapped it until it exploded. The thief held up his arms to protect himself.

 **Thief: 2100-1800**

"Since I used Presider of Rituals to summon Shinato, I get to draw a card since he destroyed a monster in battle." Shiori drew a card. "And now I attack with Armored Zombie!" The sword wielding warrior made its way to the thief's field.

"But my Masked Beast is stronger than your monster."

Shiori smirked. "And why do you think I equipped him with the Amulet of Ambition? If he battles a monster with a higher level, his attack points are temporary increased by 500 multiplied by the difference between their levels. Your Des Gardius is a level 8 monster, and Armored Zombie is a level 3 monster, making him 5 levels weaker. Therefore, he gains 2500 attack points." The amulet around the zombie's neck glowed as it growled due tom the power boost. ( **ATK: 1500-4000** )

"All right!" Andrew cheered.

"Nice one, Shiori!" Jenny added.

As soon as the zombie reached his target, he stabbed the giant fiend with his sword, making it shatter to pixels.

 **Thief: 1800-1100**

Everyone cheered for Shiori's comeback after the zombie returned to his field. But then...

"Hehehe."

They fell silent as they heard the thief laughing. It doesn't add up. Why would he laugh after losing his two powerful monsters?

"Hey, what are you laughing at?" Jenny asked.

The thief calmed down before responding with a grin. "If you were me, you'd laugh at your friend's stupidity.

That comment made Shiori look at him angrily. "What's that supposed mean!?"

"Why don't you have a look at this…"

Everyone looked at the field and notice three objects floating in the air. It didn't take them long to notice what they were; the blue masks from Des Gardius' body. But that wasn't the end of it. The three masks joined together and glowed brightly for a moment and became a new mask. It looked gruesome and fiendish.

"What is that?" Andrew asked.

"This is The Mask of Remnants. After my Masked Beast is destroyed, I can play this spell card directly from my deck and equip it to a monster on the field. And then…" The thief's grin widened. "I can take control of that monster."

Everyone gasped.

"You wouldn't dare!" Shiori said almost horrified.

"You better believe I would. I'll use The Mask of Remnants to take control of your Shinato!" The mask attached itself onto Shinato's face who struggled to get it off. Eventually, he stopped and flew over to the thief's field mindlessly.

"Why you…" Shiori growled. "How many of my cards do you plan to steal!?"

"Aw, do you want him back?" The thief mocked.

Shiori grunted before he inserted his remaining card into his duel disk. "I end my turn with a facedown card."

"Then it's my turn." The thief smirked when he looked at the card he drew. "Well, it seems I don't have a monster to summon, but I can play this…" He held up the card he drew. "The spell card Snatch Steal."

Jenny gasped. "Oh no! Thanks to that equip spell's effect, he can take control of Shiori's monster."

Andrew widened his eyes. "That leaves him wide open!"

As soon as the spell card appeared, Armored Zombie disappeared from Shiori's field, and reappeared on the thief's field. "And with him out of the way, I can finish you off with your own monster. Say goodbye to the rest of your life points. Now Shinato, attack your former master!" The blue skinned angel rose up his arms to create another ring of energy.

While that happened, Shiori looked grim. "I don't want to do this, but you're leaving me no choice." He looked up and held up his right palm. "I activate Sakuretsu Armor!" His facedown card flipped up. "This trap card destroys your attacking monster, so Shinato is gone."

The thief gasped as Shinato exploded before his energy ring was complete. He then growled. "So you saved yourself from that one, but I can attack with Armored Zombie. Now go!" The monster in question wandered over to Shiori and slashed him with his sword.

 **Shiori: 1950-0450**

Shiori grunted while the zombie returned to the thief's field.

"Are you okay?" Andrew asked.

"I'm fine." He replied.

"Yeah right!" The thief scoffed. "No way in hell you're okay. Just look at yourself." He said while grinning. "You've got no monsters, spells or traps on the field. No defense. Why don't you just give up?"

Shiori scowled. "Why don't you stop this nonsense and hand over my card?"

"Like a Ra Reject like you deserve such a powerful card." The thief said as he held up Thousand-Eyes Restrict. "This kind of cards is what makes duelists superior. These cards are about power and…"

"Oh, get over yourself!" Jenny snapped startling all the boys here, including the the thief. "There's more about Duel Monsters than powerful cards. A good duelist knows how to make the best out of what you've got, even weaker cards. And as for the card you stole from Shiori, you have no right to have it. True, that card is very rare, but a card is something you have to earn, not something you can simply take."

The thief scoffed again. "Give me a break. If you want something, then take it. That's the world I live in."

"Then I'm afraid your world is about to collapse." Shiori said, getting the thief's attention. "Because all I need is the right card to end this duel. So let's move on. I draw!" He drew his next card.

"Fine, suit yourself." The thief shrugged. "And not that it matters or anything, but since I'm controlling your Armored Zombie with my Snatch Steal, you gain 1000 life points during your standby phase."

 **Shiori: 0450-1450**

"Fine by me." Shiori replied before he glanced at the card he drew and smiled. "Well, since you enjoyed taking cards from me, I should return the favor."

The thief widened his eyes. "What are you up to!?"

"Let me show you, starting with his." Shiori revealed one of his cards. "The spell card Pre-Preparation of Rites. This lets me take two cards from my deck and add them to my hand. A ritual monster, and the ritual spell card that is compatible with it." Shiori searched through his deck until he took two cards from his deck and showed them for the thief.

He gasped when noticed the image of the ritual monster. A certain golden eyed monster. "It can't be!"

"I'm afraid it's true. I activate the spell card Black Illusion Ritual. And next I sacrifice the level 1 monster Thousand-Eyes Idol in order to summon Relinquished!" The monster card he held up as the sacrifice had the image of a green, round creature with a pair of arms and legs and countless eyes on its body. After the card disappeared, the golden eyed creature with its vein covered body appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 0** DEF: 0 LV: 1) "And now I activate his special ability; I can equip him with a monster on your side of the field and add that monster's attack and defense points to his strength. So I'll take back Armored Zombie." Relinquished's circle opened up and sucked in the zombie monster. And then, that monster's upper body appeared on one of its armor pieces. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 0) "And now you're finished."

"No! hang on a second…!" The thief panicked.

"No chance! Relinquished, end this duel with Pilfered Power Attack!" The ritual monster absorbed energy from Armored Zombie and fired a beam of pink energy at the thief, who cried out after taking the hit.

 **Thief: 1100-0000**

The thief fell and landed on his back as the holograms disappeared.

"Nice one, Shiori." Andrew praised his friend.

"Thanks."

"And so, this the end for the card thief." Jenny said as she approached the fallen opponent. She noticed a card laying on the ground and picked it up. It was Thousand-Eyes Restrict. "Hey Shiori. I think this belongs to you."

The ritual duelist walked up to her and took the card. "Thank you."

"Now, we just have to take him to Miss Dorothy." The fairy duelist declared.

Andrew looked toward the forest. "Speaking of whom, I wonder how she, Jaden and the others are dealing with the eggwich thief?"

* * *

Well, the Tarzan look alike was swinging through the forest and surprisingly enough, came to an area where Jaden's group was. He passed them and ran to a waterfall and climbed up to get away.

Jaden's group arrived as well.

"Now, can we stop?" Chumley asked.

"Who on earth is this guy?" Jaden wondered.

"Damon!" Dorothy called out, making the Tarzan guy stop his climbing.

Everyone looked at her in confusion.

"You know him?" Jaden asked.

"Take your time to answer, I need a break." Chumley said.

"Yes, I know him. And he knows better than stealing."

The thief now named Damon looked back before he lost his grip and fell into the water below. Once he out of the water, Dorothy got a good look at him.

"My, you have changed."

"I change, I change for better." Damon replied.

"Not your grammar." Chumley said.

"How do you know him, Ms. Dorothy?" Jaden asked.

"Where else? From school. He used to be an Obelisk blue."

"Boy, they really had a chill dress code back then, huh?"

"No, he looked different back then. But then, one day, he just disappeared. I was so sad. He was one of my favorites. Always visiting me at the card shack, especially on sandwich days…"

* * *

 **Flashback**

 _"Oh, how he loved trying to pick a good sandwich."_

One example of the past was when Dorothy was in the card shop and watched a few students standing at the sandwich bin. One of them was Damon, whose appearance before he left the school was his hair being shorter and he was wearing an Obelisk blue uniform.

Damon picked a sandwich, opened it and took a bite... only to have a disappointed look on his face.

"Ugh, sardines?" He moaned as he fell on his knees, making Dorothy gasp.

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"...Shame he was so bad at it." By the time she finished her story, Damon had already climbed out of the water and was now sitting on a rock.

"But this guy is always picking the good one. You sure it's the same person?" Jaden asked.

Damon stood up and let out a laughter. "Not same person. I new person now. I live in the nature. I hone my skills."

"Well, why'd you leave?"

"When I Obelisk, I test good, but when come to duel, Damon have some degree of difficulty…"

* * *

 **Flashback**

"Alright, time to take down Jinzo." Damon (as a student) declared as he was dueling someone in the main arena. "Here goes." He drew a card and unfortunately, it was a bad draw. "Ah great, a trap! This is the worst draw I could have possibly gotten. I lost!"

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"My draw ruined me, each time…!"

* * *

 **Flashback**

 _"…So I decide I must improve. I do everything I can think of."_

Damon was sitting at the docks, depressed of his bad draws. He then stood up and yelled towards the sea. "Someone! Please! Make me a better card drawer!"

 _"But no answer. Nothing happened. Only waves go back and forth. Back and forth. Always back and forth. Then... hit me!"_

 _"Uh, you want me to hit you?"_ Jaden asked weirdly.

 _"No, 'it' hit me. Just like I know what come next_ _in wave, I realized I can know what come next in cards, by simply be in tune with nature…"_

 **Flashback end**

* * *

 _'I'm thinking this guy can't help me find my_ _brother. In fact, from the smell of him, I don't think he can even find a bar of soap.'_ Alexis thought, realizing that this wasn't the kind of clue she was hoping for.

"This why, I live out here. To train, to learn, to be at one with nature, to be at one... with the draw. I get very good, but still, only one way for I to be sure. Ultimate test; I draw eggwiches. This is why I take them these past weeks." He started to cry. "Not because I thief."

"We understand." Dorothy said sympathetically.

"I don't." Jaden said. "I mean, don't get me wrong, Damon. I don't think you're a thief anymore, but…"

"But?"

"But this: I like those eggwiches as much as the next guy, so let's duel. If I win, then you stop swiping them. You win, they're all yours."

Damon smirked. "Fine, but I expert drawer. There no way you can beat me."

"Hey, I'm no slouch."

"It's true." Syrus said.

"He's the best I know." Chumley added.

"It on! Now let's see how quick you are, on the draw." Damon reached behind a rock to grab a duel disk he kept hidden.

* * *

Jaden and Damon went over an open field near the waterfall and took their positions. The others were watching from the sidelines. While the duelists prepared themselves...

"Hey guys!"

They saw Andrew, Jenny and Shiori walk up to them along with the card thief, who was restrained by the boys."

"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay." Dorothy said before glancing at the masked Obelisk boy. "And I see you caught the card thief."

"It was really tough, but in the end, justice prevailed." Shiori replied.

"Oh, gag me." The thief grumbled. That however caused the ritual duelist to bonk him on the top of his head.

"Anyway…" Andrew spoke up. "On our way back, we heard the eggwich thief's roar and decided to see if you guys got him."

"So what's going on here?" Jenny asked. "Is Jaden going to duel that guy?"

"Yeah, and if he wins, Damon won't steal the eggwiches again." Syrus replied.

"Damon, huh?" Andrew parroted. "And what's the story behind him?"

"It's a long story. We'll explain everything after the duel." Alexis said.

"All right, Damon. Get your game on!" Jaden called out.

"Let's do this!" The both said as they activated their duel disks and activated their duel disks.

 **Jaden: 4000**

 **Damon: 4000**

"It's time to throw down!" Jaden declared. "Here goes!" He drew his sixth card and looked at it. "Sweet! I summon Elemental HERO Avian, attack mode!" His feathered green hero made his entrance. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1000 LV: 3) "I'll also trow down a facedown and that'll do." He concluded as he inserted a card into his duel disk. "Your draw. Let's see what you got."

"Just as trees swing too and fro, I know what will come." Damon let out a Tarzan yell while drawing his sixth card. He chuckled while looking at it. "Yes, the Nature has taught me well. I play card facedown, then summon card I drew, Drawler." He let out another Tarzan yell as his monster appeared. It was a huge stone figure with huge wheels underneath its limbs. ( **ATK: ?** DEF: ? LV: 3)

"What's that thing?" Syrus asked.

"Not friendly." Chumley replied.

"Now for every card in my hand that I return to deck, Drawler gain 500 attack and defense points. And I return 4 cards from hand."

"That's all his cards!" Shiori stated

"Then Jaden better brace himself." Andrew commented.

Drawler growled while glowing by the power boost. ( **ATK: ?-2000** DEF: ?-2000) "Drawler, attack Avian! Stone Roll Wrecker!" At Damon's command, the stone creature ran over Avian with its huge presses, flattening him like a pancake.

 **Jaden: 4000-3000**

Jaden looked at his deck to see that his card went back to the bottom of it instead of the graveyard. "What the…?

"When monster in attack mode get beat by Drawler, he no go to graveyard, he go to bottom of your deck." Damon explained. "So you won't be able use for long time. Now my turn end."

"Wow, nice move." Jaden complimented before drawing his next card. _'Sweet. Another good draw.'_  
"I activate the spell card Polymerization, and fuse Elemental HERO Clayman and Burstinatrix to create Rampart Blaster!" The heroes combined together and appeared as the female armored hero. (ATK: 2000 **DEF: 2500** LV: 6)

"In defense mode?" Damon asked.

"Yup. But if take her attack points and split them in half, I'm allowed to wage a direct attack." (ATK: 2000-1000) "Rampart Barrage!" The hero shot a series of missiles from her cannon arm which exploded, making Damon let out another Tarzan yell.

 **Damon: 4000-3000**

"That'll do for me."

 _'He draw good for man who wear shirt and have hair cut. But still, he no match for the way of Nature.'_ Damon thought

As Damon rose to his feet, Jaden looked straight at him. _'Uh oh, he's guy's got a weird look in his eyes. Well, weirder...'_

"I activate trap! Go, Miracle Draw!" The named card was raised. "This how work, before I make card draw from deck, I announce what card I think draw, and if I right, you take 1000 damage. I wrong, I take damage."

"He's guessing what he's gonna draw?" Syrus asked.

"Good luck. This is one gutsy move." Jaden commented.

 _'No joke. Nearly 40 cards in that deck, and he's gonna guess the top one?'_ Alexis thought.

"You think I won't guess right?"

"You might."

"No might. The snow no not might melt, it will melt. And I will guess right." Damon closed his eyes and concentrated. Eventually the image of a spell card appeared in his mind. "Draw will be Card Loan!" He drew his next card and held it up to show them all that it _was_ Card Loan.

"He's right?" Syrus asked.

"No way!" Jenny said.

"This guy's weirding me out." Chumley commented.

"Incredible." Andrew added.

"Now you take 1000 point damage." Once those words left Damon's mouth. Jaden's duel disk sparked with electricity making the latter grunt.

 **Jaden: 3000-2000**

"Next, I activate Card Loan. You regain 1000 points…"

 **Jaden: 2000-3000**

"And I lose 1000 life points…"

 **Damon: 3000-2000**

"But I get to draw one card from deck, and then I must return card to my deck at the end of my turn."

"All of that just to make a draw?" Chumley wondered.

"He must have a good hunch what's there." Shiori said.

"Here draw…" Damon looked at the card he drew. "I like! Okay, I activate Drawber, a spell card. Now you draw card and I guess what it is. I guess correct, and all card in your hand and on field go back to your deck."

"Oh no, that'll leave Jaden wide open." Chumley said worriedly.

"There's no way that monkey boy can guess right again." The card thief said.

After Jaden drew a card, Damon closed his eyes and concentrated again. When the image of another card appeared in his mind, he said… "Draw is De-Fusion!"

Jaden looked at the card in question and laughed. "Right again."

"That's impossible." Syrus said, being as shocked as the rest of the group.

Jaden gathered his cards and shuffled them back to his deck. "Guess everything goes back to my deck." He said as Rampart Blaster disappeared.

"This is gonna hurt." Shiori commented.

"Drawler, attack with Stone Roll Wrecker!" The stone monster moved forward, passing through Jaden like a ghost.

 **Jaden: 3000-1000**

After the attack was successful, Damon took the Drawber card and placed it on the bottom of his deck. "I end my turn."

"All right then, here's mine." Jaden drew a card. "I'll summon Wroughtweiler in defense mode." The mechanical dog lay down in front of him. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 1200** LV: 3) "And I think I'll leave it at that."

"Not Lishus." Chumley said. "With Miracle Draw still out, all Damon has to do is guess one more card right, and it's goodbye eggwiches for good."

 _'Come on, Jaden.'_ Alexis thought worriedly.

"Aw man." Syrus groaned.

"Is it over yet?" Dorothy asked.

Everyone looked at her weirdly. "No, it's not." Shiori replied.

"We have to believe Jaden can pull this through." Andrew said confidently.

 _'This it. Just as I know leaves wilt and grow, I know I can pick my next card.'_ Damon thought. _'And with Wroughtweiler in defense mode, there is only one card that can help me. With it, I can destroy monster, then... destroy Jaden.'_ He closed his eyes and concentrated. _'I must draw Shield Crush. Must draw Shield Crush. Give me Shield Crush!'_  
"Draw will be Shield Crush!" He declared as he drew his next card.

"If he guess this card right, it's all over for Jaden." Chumley said.

But when Damon looked at the card he drew… "Oh no!"

"He's wrong?" Jenny asked.

Damon let out a more normal yell as he suffered the damage.

 **Damon: 2000-1000**

"I summon Doron in attack mode." The monster that appeared was a strange figure. It sort of looked like a blackened mummy. ( **ATK: 900** DEF: 500 LV: 3)

Jaden smirked at this.

"So I guess wrong, it no matter, I still beat you. Just you wait and see! Drawler attack Wroughtweiler with Stone Roll Wrecker!" Just like what it did to Avian, the stone monster ran over the mechanical dog and flattened it.

When that happened, two cards came out of Jaden's graveyard slot. "I activate Wrought's special ability. Now since he was sent to the graveyard, I'm allowed to put Polymerization and Burstinatrix back to my hand."

"Fine, but I'm not done yet. Now Doron attack's you. Mad Dash Stinger!" Three transparent clones of the named monster ran out of the original and surrounded Jaden, each one punching him multiple times. Jaden winced at the loss of life points.

 **Jaden: 1000-0100**

"Jaden!" Syrus cried out.

"Is it over now?" Everyone sighed at Dorothy's question.

"No." Jenny replied with an almost annoyed tone.

"I end turn." Damon concluded. "And since you only have hundred life point remaining, soon like seasons end, I end you."

"Okay that's enough!" Jaden snapped. "All this nature, that terrible fake voice?"

"Fake voice?"

"Come on, Damon. You've spent one year out in the wilderness. I mean it's not like you were raised there as a baby or something. It's time to get real."

"You wrong!"

Andrew decided to step in. "If drawing cards was predictable as snow melting you'd never guess wrong. And the fact you just did proves that it's not."

Jaden nodded. "That's right. Drawing is about using your gut. You know, being in tune with yourself. Even then you'll never guess every draw right. After all, you're only human, Damon. Even if you do get around by swinging on vines. That's what makes drawing great, you never know what you'll get. But you can always hope. Like now, I'm hoping for a certain card. And I've played the way I have. Quz my gut told me I get it, and what do you know?" He drew his next card. "Remember that first card you destroyed with Drawler, how it went to the bottom of my deck instead of to the graveyard. Well since you made me shuffle my deck, guess who's back on top." He turned the card over to reveal Avian.

"So Drawler just have to destroy him again."

"Don't think so. Not this time." Jaden's response made Damon confused. "I activate Polymerization. And fuse from my hand Burstinatrix and Avian to create the Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!" The two heroes merged to form Jaden's headliner. ( **ATK 2100** DEF: 1200 LV: 5)

"What!?"

"All right! That Drawler won't be destroying anything." Syrus cheered.

"Especially not after this attack." Andrew added.

"Now, Flame Wingman! Attack Drawler with Infernal Rage!" Jaden's hero shot fire from his dragon arm which hit the stone monster, shattering it to pieces

 **Damon: 1000-0900**

"I still standing." Damon pointed out.

"Yeah but not for long. Cuz now I'm activating Flame Wingman's super power. And that means you take damage equal to your monster's attack points. And that brings you down... to zero."

 **Damon: 0900-0000**

"I lose?" He then fell to his knees.

"Way to play, Jay." Syrus said.

"Good stuff." Chumley added.

Even the card thief was impressed. "Wow! I didn't see that coming."

"I can't believe I lost." Damon said, but with a different voice. "I-I don't understand. I trained out here for a whole year."

"So, now you're talking like a human being again, huh?" Andrew noted.

"Uh... I no get what…"

"Hey, it's okay, Damon." Jaden said. "You can just be yourself."

Damon looked up. "You mean it? Cuz I could really use a shower." Everyone laughed. "And a haircut…"

"And a shirt." Dorothy added.

"Well, actually I thought, all that vine swinging got me pretty ripped. So, I was thinking maybe." Damon said while sobbing.

Dorothy walked over and knelt in front of him. "Damon, a shirt."

"Okay…" Damon then hugged her as he continued to cry.

Everyone was touched by this. Well, except for the card thief.

"Okay, that's sweet and all, but can you let me go now?"

"NO!" Andrew, Shiori and Jenny said sternly.

The others then looked at him curiously.

"So, who this is guy?" Syrus asked.

Shiori snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, we haven't gotten a look on his face yet."

Jenny approached the card thief and took off his mask. Everyone could see that this Obelisk boy had messy brown hair. In fact, this guy looked familiar.

"Oh, I know you." Andrew said. "You're one of those who tried to pick on Matt.

"I can't say I expected someone like you capable of bullying _and_ stealing." Jenny said.

"Oh that's right. Matt kicked his butt when we first met." Jaden said. "Too bad we couldn't watch the whole duel, cuz that finale was sweet.

"Shut up, you Slifer Slacker." The Obelisk boy grumbled.

Everyone was glad that everything was solved.

"It's Eggwich Time." Jaden declared.

* * *

One week later, Damon had returned to Duel Academy, in his former Obelisk form and his long hair cut. And as he promised, he didn't steal eggwiches anymore. Today was Eggwich day. And a bunch of students were trying to get the eggwich. Andrew and Shiori had just arrived at the card shop. They saw Alexis and Jenny digging through the bin.

"Hey girls." Andrew greeted.

"Trying to get the eggwich?" Shiori asked.

"Yeah, and so far no one has drawn it yet." Jenny said. "I'm glad that Damon promised he wouldn't steal them again.

"Speaking of stealing, what happened to our other thief?" Andrew asked.

"Well, as punishment for opening those booster packs, he's working part time until the packs are paid." Jenny said while pointing at her side. The boys turned to see the Obelisk boy in question sorting booster packs in the shelf while grumbling.

"Well, what goes around, comes around." Shiori said.

It was then Jaden and Damon arrived.

"So, has anyone drawn the eggwich yet?" Jaden asked Ms. Dorothy, who was standing behind the counter desk.

"No, not yet. Good luck."

"Yeah, better luck than I had with this haircut at least." Damon said he and Jaden plunged their arms into the bin. However...

"I drew it! The eggwich, it's mine!" They looked up to see Alexis holding the sandwich in question triumphantly.

The two of them groaned in disappointment.

"Aw, and I haven't tried to pick one yet." Andrew said.

"Better luck next week." Jenny said.

"Hey Alexis, I'll trade ya. I got something… greenish." Jaden offered, desperately wanting the eggwich.

"I'll take it." Damon said, getting a weird look from Jaden and the others. "What? I've been eating tree bark and grub for the past year."

* * *

 **That's all she wrote. Until next time.**


	24. Chapter 24

**The King of Copycats**

It was another day at the card shack, and it happened to be many people there today. Why? Because they were to buy some tickets to something special. And among those people were Andrew, Bastion and Syrus standing in line for them.

"Whoa, the tickets are selling quick." Syrus noted.

"Naturally. Considering what they're for, it's no wonder why everyone wants to buy the tickets." Bastion responded.

"Yeah, no kidding." Andrew added as he eyed on the posters on the walls. Those posters were showing a young man wearing a blue jacket. He had purple eyes, and spiky hair in multiple colors. Most of it was black with some red. And there were some blonde bangs on the front. "I mean, it's not every day you get the chance to see the dueling deck of the King of Games: Yugi Moto." He said while smiling.

"I know, right? It feels like an honor to see the deck that Yugi used to earn so many awesome victories." The small Slifer said.

"Come to think of it, you once told us you live in Domino City, just like him, right?" The intelligent Ra asked the masked hero duelist. "Have you ever met him in person?"

"I'm afraid not, but I've seen some of his duels while watching TV. I've never seen anything like it before."

"Indeed. Every time he got cornered by a seemingly flawless move of his opponent, he always managed to draw exactly the card he needed to turn things around."

"Almost like he was controlling his deck." Someone spoke up from a small distance in front of them. The trio turned to see Shiori walk up to them.

"Hey Shiori." Andrew greeted him. "You came here to buy a ticket too?"

The ritual duelist smirked. "Already done." After giving him his response, he held up the ticket he bought."

"That's good." Andrew replied. "I came here to buy two tickets."

Shiori blinked. "Why two?"

"Jenny had to help Miss Fontaine with something, so I decided to buy a ticket for her as well."

Shiori smirked at his words. "You don't say."

"And as for me, I'm going to get a ticket for Jaden since he's getting late too." Syrus added.

And so, the trio kept waiting until they could buy tickets. And after Bastion a ticket of his own… "Next please!" Andrew and Syrus walked up to the counter where Miss Dorothy and the counter girl were selling tickets. "Andrew, Syrus, how may I help you?"

"We need four tickets, please." Syrus spoke up.

"Jaden and Jenny couldn't make it, so we'd buy tickets for them." Andrew added.

"Isn't that sweet?" Dorothy asked while smiling. She then picked up four tickets. "And luckily for you two, these are the four last ones. And since no one else here is about to buy any…"

"WAIIIT!" A voice called out. They all turned to see a Ra Yellow student with spiky brown hair run through the crowd and in front of Andrew and Syrus.

"Oh, Dimitri. What's up?" Andrew asked.

After catching is breath, the boy now named Dimitri spoke up. "I wanted to buy a ticket. There must be one ticket left at least!"

"I'm sorry, but these two bought the last ones." Miss Dorothy apologized.

Dimitri growled and looked at them. "Why do you guys have two tickets each? Who's the other two for?"

"They're for Jaden and Jenny." Syrus replied.

"They couldn't make it, so we bought them for them." Andrew added.

"Oh yeah? Well tough break for them! Give me one of those tickets!"

"All right, calm down everyone." Everyone turned to see Shiori walk up to them. "Since you want a ticket so badly Dimitri, how about you three settle this in a duel?"

"What? You mean two against one?"

"No. You choose either Andrew or Syrus to duel for their second ticket, and the winner gets it. How about it?"

Dimitri grinned. "That sounds great. And my opponent will be…" He paused before he pointed at the opponent he chose. "Syrus!"

"W-what!? Me?" The blue-haired Slifer said, feeling he caught on something bad.

"That's right little man. With the new deck I built, you won't stand a chance!"

"Don't underestimate him, Dimitri." Andrew said. "Syrus is pretty tough for a Slifer. You saw how he and Jaden took down the Paradox brothers."

"Yeah, but that was a tag team duel. He won't last long in a single duel." Dimitri gloated.

"Fine, let's duel!" Syrus said, surprising everyone.

"Syrus?" Shiori asked.

"I'm tired of people talking to me like I'm a weakling. I'll show them!" The little Slifer said."

"That's the spirit." Andrew praised.

"A Ra versus a Slifer?" One student whispered.

"This'll be over quick." Another one said.

"For that Slifer, or Dimitri?" A third person asked.

All students spread out to give the duelists some space.

"I wonder what kind of duelist Dimitri is." Shiori said.

"I haven't seen him duel, so I have no idea." Andrew replied. "Do you know anything about him, Bastion?"

The intelligent Ra crossed his arms. "Well, let's just say Dimitri is not the most creative duelist around here."

The other two Ra's narrowed their eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Shiori asked.

"You'll see."

"DUEL!"

 **Syrus: 4000**

 **Dimitri: 4000**

"I'll start!" Syrus declared while drawing his sixth card. "I summon Gyroid in defense mode!" The blue, cartoonish helicopter monster appeared on the field. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1000** 3) "And that's all."

"Let me show you how it's done." Dimitri drew a card while speaking, but his voice changed.

"Huh? Did he change his voice?" Shiori asked.

"What's with that?" Andrew added.

"That's part of his dueling style." Bastion said. "Just watch."

"For my first move I summon Ancient Gear Soldier in attack mode." A human like mechanical monster with a machine gun on its right arm appeared in front of Dimitri. Anyone could see the working gears of it. ( **ATK: 1300** DEF: 1300 LV: 4)

"An Ancient Gear monster." Shiori noted.

"Wait, the only person I know who duels with a deck full of that kind of monsters is Dr. Crowler." Andrew said.

"That's right. Now you see why Dimitri is talking like Dr. Crowler. Because he's a duelist who studies other duelists and copy them."

"That explains the whole thing." Shiori replied.

"Attack! Rapid Fire Flurry!" At Dimitri's command, Ancient Gear Soldier took aim at the helicopter monster and fired a bunch of bullets. The helicopter endured the assault and survived.

"Sorry, but my Gyroid can survive being destroyed in battle by the first attack."

"Fine, I'll just end my turn with two facedowns." Two facedown cards appeared at Dimitri's feet.

"My turn! Syrus drew his next card. "I summon Steamroid in attack mode!" The cartoonish steam locomotive appeared next to the helicopter. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "Now Steamroid, attack his Ancient Gear Soldier!" The locomotive blew its whistle and moved forward. "Oh right, when Steamroid attacks another monster, his attack points are increased by 500." The monster blew its whistle again as it grew stronger. ( **ATK: 1800-2300** ) It then ran over Ancient Gear Soldier.

 **Dimitri:** **4000-3000**

After that, it returned to Syrus' field. ( **ATK. 2300-1800** ) "I end my turn."

"My turn then." Dimitri drew his ext card. "First I activate Pot of Greed, and in case you didn't pay attention in class, this lets me draw two cards from my deck." After Dimitri drew his two cards, he smirked. "And now I activate the spell card Raigeki. This lets me destroy all monsters on your side of the field."

Syrus gasped as the spell card appeared and unleashed a big stream of electricity, destroying his monsters like it was nothing.

"And then I activate the spell card Premature Burial. All I have to do is pay 800 life points so I can summon a monster from my graveyard."

 **Dimitri: 3000-2200**

"So welcome back, Ancient Gear Soldier." The human like machine monster appeared once again. ( **ATK: 1300** DEF: 1300 LV: 4) "Now attack with Rapid Fire Flurry." Now it was Syrus' turn to suffer the bullets from the monster's machine gun. He held up his duel disk as a shield.

 **Syrus: 4000-2700**

"Now it's your turn, little Slifer."

"Okay, here goes." Syrus looked at the card and smiled. "All right, I activate the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon. Now I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field, like your Premature Burial." The spell card created a whirlwind that blew Dimitri's spell card away. "And without your spell card, your monster is gone." After that being said, Ancient Gear Soldier shattered into pixels. "And now I summon Jetroid in attack mode!" The red, cartoonish jet plane appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "Now, attack him directly!" The jet plane flew over to Dimitri's field and tackled him.

 **Dimitri: 2200-1000**

"And that ends my turn."

"Hey, Syrus is on a roll today." Shiori said.

"Yeah, he has gotten better since that tag duel." Andrew added.

"It seems like it." A voice spoke up from behind. They turned around to see a certain blue-haired Obelisk girl.

"Hey Jenny." Andrew greeted.

"How long have you been there?" Shiori asked.

"I just came here. So why is Syrus dueling that Ra Yellow?"

"Well, you see…" Andrew started to say but was interrupted by another voice.

"Hey, what's up? Is it Eggwich day?" The person who asked and approached them was Jaden.

"No Jaden, just a little lunch time tussle." Bastion replied.

Jaden looked to see what was happening. "A duel?" He turned to left to see the Ra student. "Well, who's trowing down?"

"Well on the left is Dimitri."

"I've never heard of him." He turned to right. "And who's the other… huh? Syrus!"

"Hey there, Jay." The little Slifer.

"What's going on, Sy?"

"A high stakes duel. Check it out." Syrus pointed to the wall with the posters, making Jaden turn to that direction. "Yugi's deck is going on tour. And the first stop is Duel Academy. Isn't that the coolest?"

"Yeah, it is. The original King of Games' deck? To see with my very own eyes?" Jaden said, staring longingly at the posters, a happy look on his face.

"Yeah, so if I win this, I get… uh, uh hello?" Syrus called out as he waved his hands in front of Jadens face. "Aw man, I was afraid this would happen."

"Looks like Jaden's off the planet." Andrew commented.

"Can you blame him? It is _Yugi Moto's_ deck we're talking about." Jenny replied.

"Yugi's deck, here. I can't believe it!" Jaden said with an excited tone. "It's a piece of history. All it's been through."

"Yeah, just think about it." Syrus said. "It's the deck he took with him to Duelist Kingdom. Where he defeated Pegasus, the guy who invented Duel Monsters."

"Don't forget Battle City, where he used it to beat Seto Kaiba." Andrew said.

"And Marik too." Shiori filled in.

"I know." Syrus replied. "The way he used those Egyptian God cards? Aw man, so amazing. Of course, the deck's not going on tour with the Egyptian gods, but it will have... all the other classics! I can't wait! It's gonna be the neatest thing ever! We have to go! We gotta go!"

"I'm with you, Sy. So what are you doing dueling? Let's go get tickets."

"Jaden, that's _why_ Syrus is dueling. Because there's only one ticket left." Miss Dorothy said, holding up the ticket in question. "And whoever wins, gets it. Can you imagine a duel with a better prize than that?"

"Uh…" Jaden eyed Syrus. "Yeah, one with _two_ tickets."

"Two tickets? Why Jay? Did you want to bring a third person? I mean after all, I got my ticket already. See?" Syrus showed his own ticket.

Jaden gasped and grabbed him with a smile on his face. "You're dueling for me?"

"Of course, Jaden. And I'm gonna win."

"Aw, so I'm left out?" Jenny asked disappointed.

Andrew smiled at her. "Actually, you're not." Jenny looked at him confused while he reached into his pockets and pulled out his two tickets, making her gasp. "I knew you couldn't make it, so I bought your ticket for you. Here." He handed her the ticket.

The fairy duelist smiled brightly, and before Andrew knew it... she gave him a tight hug. "Oh thank you so much! You're so sweet!"

This caused Andrew's face to turn almost as red as a Slifer Red jacket. "Umm... no problem." He stammered.

Jenny realized what she did, and let go of him, but not without turning a little red herself. "Umm… yeah." She mumbled.

"Aw, isn't that cute?" Shiori commented with a teasing grin on his face.

That made the blush on their faces getting redder, but that didn't stop Jenny from giving him a glare. "Shut it."

"Let's finish this." Syrus declared, getting their attention as he returned to his side of the dueling field.

"You're a pal, Sy. Good luck." Jaden called out.

"My turn." Dimitri said as he drew his next and smiled. "And I play Heavy Storm. And that young scholar will destroy all the spell and trap cards on the field."

"Huh? That sounds familiar." Jaden noted, a little thrown off by hearing Dimitri's voice.

"It should." Bastion replied. "Dr. Crowler played the same move on you."

"Oh yeah. What a coincidence."

A gust from Dimitri's spell destroyed his two facedown cards, making two golden fiendish tokens appear in a fog. "And now I'll sacrifice the two Wicked Tokens that were created and summon forth, the legendary Ancient Gear Golem!" The two tokens were replaced by a monster that looked similar to Ancient Gear Soldier. But this one was without a gun, and it was gigantic. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 3000 LV: 8)

As the giant monster rose up on the field, Jaden stared at it and couldn't help but remember his duel with Crowler. _'This is total Déjà vu.'_ He thought.

"Attack, Mechanized Melee!" At Dimitri's command, the golem pulled back its right arm to swing it forward.

"Not so fast!" Syrus interrupted. "Cuz, when Jetroid is attacked, his ability activates. An ability that lets me play a trap. Like this…" He held up a card from his hand. "Magic Cylinder!" A pair of red cylinders appeared between Syrus' monster and the golem. "It takes Mechanized Melee, and put it in reverse!"

"Time out!" Dimitri said, shocked. But it was too late. The golem already swung its arm, releasing a transparent version of its fist which entered one cylinder, and came out of the other one that sent it right back at Dimitri, who fell to his knees.

 **Dimitri: 1000-0000**

"Yeah! That's how you duel!" Syrus cheered.

"Sweet moves!" Jaden complimented. "You sent that Golem to the junkyard. Way to go!"

"It was easy. I've already seen you how you beat Dr. Crowler's, and since Dimitri copied his deck, I knew exactly what to do." Syrus laughed a little. "Oh, I almost forgot." He went to the counter and grabbed the ticket he dueled for. He then went back to Jaden and gave it to him. "Here's your ticket Jaden."

"Sy, you're the best."

"All right everyone, the show's over!" Dorothy spoke up, rising from her stool. "So get back to class!"

As the crowd dispersed, Dimitri heard some of the jabs aimed at him

"Another _stunning_ performance by Dimitri."

"As a Ra Yellow, he should have destroyed that Slifer loser."

"Guess copying great duelists and being one are two very different things."

"What a joke."

"Really, it's a wonder he's still here."

Bastion, Andrew and Shiori looked from side to side, seeing the crowd get thinner and thinner and then turned to Dimitri, smiling.

"Well then, I think that's about the worst of it." Bastion said.

"Yeah, they had been losing duels too, so they should know better than talk like that." Shiori noted to the ones talking.

"At least you're doing your best in dueling." Andrew added.

"Sure, until the next time I lose!" Dimitri said angrily with his normal voice. "Well I've had it!" He then ran out.

* * *

Later that night, Dimitri was alone in his dorm room, sitting at a desk. He had bunch of books and notebooks stacked in front of him. He thought back to his duels and how many times he lost. "I don't get it. Doesn't make sense!" He muttered angrily, throwing his books and notebooks off his desk. "I watch, and I study, and still I lose!"

Papers fluttered while the Ra seethed in anger. They had formulas and equations that would allow Dimitri to earn some respect from Bastion. "Crowler's deck... it was just as useless as all the rest! Kaiba's or Zane's... it doesn't matter matter who I copy, I always just lose! What is there left to do? After all, if copying the greatest duelists in the world won't help me win, what can?"

As if to answer his question, a poster of Yugi fell down to his desk. As soon as he noticed it, an idea crossed his mind. "Of course, it's so obvious. _Becoming_ the greatest duelist."

* * *

Meanwhile, Jaden, Syrus and Chumley were relaxing in their dorm room. Chumley was laying down on his bed as he listened to Syrus' story about his duel.

"… and then I said, 'No you don't Dimitri, cuz I'm putting your Mechanized Melee in reverse'... like that, but cooler. Right Jay?"

They both turned to see Jaden sitting at the desk, staring at his Winged Kuriboh card. "Wha?"

"Jaden, you've been staring at your cards all night. What's up?" The smaller Slifer asked.

"Yugi's deck. I just can't get it out of my head."

"Why?" Chumley asked.

"Why?" Jaden turned around to face his friends. "Why do you like grilled cheese? Look, I can't wait another second to check out those legendary cards. So who's up for going with me to the exhibit right now?"

Chumley appeared to like Jaden's idea. "While they're setting up? Hey, that's an idea. I mean, then we'll avoid the rush."

Syrus frowned. "Wait, so I dueled to get that ticket for you, and you aren't even gonna use it?"

"Syrus, we'll be the first in line tomorrow too." As the blue-headed Slifer glanced away, Jaden poked him on his right cheek playfully. "Come on~."

* * *

Meanwhile, Andrew and Shiori were in the former's dorm room, sitting on the floor and discussed about Dimitri. Clearly, they were concerned about him.

"I feel bad for Dimitri. I can't imagine how frustrated he must be about this." Shiori said.

"Yeah, me neither." Andrew replied. "Dimitri has dueling talent, that's for sure. But he can't get far by copying another duelist's deck and strategies. I mean, just because you have the same deck as the one you're copying, doesn't mean that makes you as good as that person. I should know, I had it pretty tough the time when I dueled you and accidentally used Jaden's deck."

"But his deck is kinda similar to your own deck, so you did pretty good."

Andrew stood up and looked through the window. "Yeah, but the point is in order to become a true duelist you must build… huh?" He stopped at mid sentence as he noticed something outside.

"What's wrong?" Shiori asked curiously.

Andrew gestured him to look through the window. "Take a look at this."

The ritual duelist stood up and walked up to him to take a look through the window. It was then he was surprised to see a certain grey-haired Ra Yellow student sneaking away. "Bastion? What's he doing out there this late."

"I don't know, but let's find out." Andrew declared as he and Shiori quickly left the room.

* * *

Just outside the exhibit room, two security officers had just finished up and were talking Crowler. "All right Mr. Crowler-"

"Doctor." The Obelisk headmaster corrected.

"Dr. Crowler, we're finished setting up. Here's the key to the display case and the exhibit hall." One of the men said.

The other one gave him two keys on a chain. "Thanks again for letting us off early. We'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning for the big opening. Have a good one Mr… uh Doctor... "

"Night, sir." The two officers walked away.

"Yes, good night, good night." Crowler said while barely holding back his laughter. "Quite a good night." He then made his way down the hall with posters of Yugi on the walls. "After all, how many evenings can one say that they are in the presence of greatness? Of the world's most famous dueling deck." He opened the doors and closed them behind his back. In the middle of the room was a display case with a mini-pedestal inside it. But when Crowler got closer, he noticed something was wrong with it. The glass case was broken with a jagged hole on one side. And as for Yugi Moto's dueling deck... "It's not there?"

* * *

Meanwhile, the two guards were making their way down the halls. "You know, I didn't know he was a doctor."

"I didn't know he was a dude."

They walked by a corner were the Slifer trio was hiding. They emerged from there and quietly ran the opposite way down the hallway.

"Hurry up, Chumley." Syrus whispered as the group made their way to the exhibit hall, towards the exhibit hall.

When they neared the entrance, they saw another person coming to the same spot. "Whoa, Bastion?" Jaden asked.

"Jaden?" As all three of the Slifers assembled, Bastion laughed a little. "Fancy meeting you here. Taking a sneak peek at the deck."

"I guess great minds think alike." Jaden said.

"You don't say." Someone spoke up behind Bastion. The group turned around to see Andrew and Shiori smiling at them, the former being the one who spoke up.

"Andrew. Shiori. You guys came to look at the deck too?" Syrus asked.

"Actually, we saw Bastion sneaking around and decided to find out what's going on." Shiori said.

The intelligent Ra laughed sheepishly. "Well, you guys caught me redhanded. But it's not like you two would have no urge of take a sneak peek either, right?"

Andrew shrugged. "Touche."

"AAAHHH!" A shriek echoed down the hallway at that moment, making everyone look towards the doors at the end.

"Did you hear that?" Jaden asked.

"Sure did." Syrus replied.

"Someone's in trouble." Chumley said.

"Let's go help her." They all ran at Bastion's suggestion and barged into the room. Crowler jumped at their entrance. He was standing at the display case, but the deck was missing. "Crowler?"

"The display case." Jaden noted.

"He stole Yugi's deck." Chumley said accusingly.

"Why'd you do it Dr. Crowler?" Syrus asked.

The Obelisk Headmaster waved his left hand and shook his head. "No wait! I…"

"Let's get Chancellor Sheppard." Andrew suggested as everyone was about to leave...

"NOOOOO!" But they were knocked down by Crowler.

"Hey, hands off!" Shiori said as he kicked Crowler's hands off his foot.

"I know this looks bad, but believe me, I didn't steal the deck!" Crowler pleaded.

"Then who did?" Bastion asked.

"You were the only one here, Dr. Crowler." Chumley pointed out.

"Standing right next to the case." Syrus added.

"Then search me! Please! Go ahead, go ahead!"

After a brief deliberation, Jaden spoke up. "You know, it could be cuz I don't wanna search him. But I think that I actually believe what Dr. Crowler say."

"Yes, yes. You're not so dim after all." The Obelisk headmaster said, relieved that Jaden believed him.

"If that's true, that means the real thief is still out there." Andrew said as they all got up.

"Then we better split up and look for him." Shiori added.

Crowler smiled with tearful eyes. "Yes, good call! We must find this wrong-doer, this pillager! And when I say 'we' I mean you."

Andrew couldn't help but roll his eyes at that statement, but didn't say anything. He just started his search, just like the others.

* * *

On the coast, on a large outcropping of rock, Dimitri stood there in the moonlight with a green scarf around his neck. He was looking at he cards he stole. "And it's done. Now that I have the greatest deck, I'll be the greatest duelist." He said as he pulled his scarf away from his grinning face.

It was at that moment Syrus decided to show up after he noticed Dimitri here. "Hey! Someone just stole Yugi's deck. Know anything?"

"Stole? What do you mean?" Dimitri turned around while speaking in s deeper voice. And apparently he had a picture of the Millennium Puzzle on his black shirt. "This is my deck. If you don't believe me, why don't you go ahead and let me show you, right here, right now!" He tossed Syrus a duel disk.

The small Slifer let out an 'Aw man' before both of them activated their duel disks.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jaden, Andrew, Chumley, Shiori and Bastion met up at the bridge that connected the island to the docks.

"The dorms are clear." Bastion reported.

"So are the Classrooms."Chumley added.

"Shiori and I didn't find anything at the docks." Andrew filled in.

"I couldn't find anything either." Jaden said.

They all then heard a yell from nearby.

"That was Syrus!" Jaden said as he and the others ran in the direction the yell came from.

* * *

Syrus was laying on the ground as Dimitri smiled triumphantly.

"Ah yes. It's good to be the King of Games." He laughed loudly in his deep voice as the others showed up.

"Syrus, what happened?" Jaden asked while kneeling down to his friend.

"He has it… Yugi's dueling deck." Syrus slowly sat up.

Jaden gasped at his words.

"And he beat me with it."

"All right you thief! You've had your fun! But now it's over! Hand over the deck right now, Dimitri!" Jaden demanded

"Hmph, Dimitri?" He scoffed.

"Yeah!"

"I'm afraid that you're mistaken. I'm Yugi. Dimitri's just some child who would study other people's decks, then copy them. You see, with these cards, I'm not copying the King of Games…. I truly am the King of Games! And if you want this deck back, you'll have to prove I'm not."

"Okay, that's absurd." Andrew commented, making the others nod in agreement.

"You've really gone off the deep end. Still, I never back down from a challenge."

"Good, so let's go." Dimitri had his duel disk ready.

"Jaden!" Syrus tossed him the duel disk he'd used. He strapped it on his arm, inserted his deck and activated it.

"Get your game on!"

"It's time to duel!"

 **Jaden: 4000**

 **Dimitri: 4000**

"All right, here I come! First off..." Jaden drew his sixth card. "I play Elemental HERO Burstinatrix in defense mode." The red clad female hero kneeled down in front of him. (ATK: 1200 **DEF: 800** LV: 3) "And that'll do."

"Will it?" Dimitri asked he drew his next card. "I fuse Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts and Berfomet to create Chimera, the Flying Mythical Beast!" Two monsters appeared in front of the image of Polymerization. One of them was a lion-like beast with a horn of its forehead and black mane. The other one was a winged beast with four arms and two horns on either side of its head. They were then sucked into the fusion card, making a new monster appear. It was a four legged creature who's two heads had the faces of its fusion materials, with white wings and a tail that was a snake. ( **ATK: 2100** DEF: 1800 LV: 6)

"Uh oh, this isn't gonna be pretty." Jaden commented as his friends gasped.

"Now go, attack! Pulverizing Pounce!" The Chimera leapt forward and pounced at Burstinatrix.

"Syrus, you just dueled this guy. Got any advise on how to beat him?" Chumley asked.

"None. I tried everything, but nothing worked."

That response caused the koala duelist gasp as if frightened. "So then what are you saying, Syrus? That Jaden doesn't have a chance here?"

"I'm saying against Yugi's deck, that's a possibility."

"It's more than that." Bastion spoke up. "You see, Dimitri's a copycat duelist. So in order to defeat him, you must exploit the failings of whoever he's copying. As you did when you first dueled Dimitri, Syrus. You knew he was copying Crowler's deck, and you knew what its weaknesses were. That's how you won. But the problem is now he's copying Yugi, a duelist who's weaknesses are not so well known. That is if he has any at all. You see, there is no set formula on how to beat the King of Games. So therefore, there is no set formula on how to beat Dimitri now."

"Well, that's just great." Shiori commented sarcastically.

Andrew however had a determined look on his face. "Even if Yugi's deck doesn't have any weaknesses, that doesn't make Dimitri unbeatable. I still believe Jaden can win this."

"All right, so you like fusing monsters, do ya?" Jaden asked as he began his next turn. "Well then, you'll love this. Elemental heroes Sparkman and Clayman, combine to create, Elemental HERO Thunder Giant!" The two named monsters appeared for just one second before merging into the big yellow armored man. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 1500 LV: 6) "And now I'm gonna use his special ability. It lets me destroy a monster who's original attack points are less than his own." The giant shot a blast of electricity from his palm which caused Chimera to roar in pain before it exploded.

"Nice ability. Now let me show you mine. When Chimera is destroyed, I'm allowed to summon back Berfomet from the graveyard." The four armed monster appeared again, kneeling down and crossed two of its arms. (ATK: 1400 **DEF: 1800** LV: 5)

"Yeah, well he won't be back for very long. Thunder Giant, attack! Voltic Thunder!" Once again, the giant shot a blast of electricity which made the defending monster explode, just like Chimera. _'That ability saved his life points from taking a big hit. That deck's living up to the height.'_ Jaden thought.

"Man, no damage at all." Shiori noted.

"Yeah. That Chimera is a good monster to counter cards like Thunder Giant." Andrew added.

Dimitri began his next turn. "All right, for my turn I place one card facedown." A card appeared at his feet. And play… this!" He held up a spell card. "Monster Reincarnation. Now by discarding one card, I get back one monster from my graveyard." He discarded a card from his hand and took back the monster he chose. "Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts, return!" The uni-horned beast appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And now…" Dimitri held up another spell card. "I activate the magic card Swords of Revealing Light!"

Jaden and everyone else watched as dozens of swords of light rained down upon the field, surrounding his field. "Hey, what's happening?"

"Not your attacks, that's what. For three turns your monsters are useless."

"Three turns? I've gotta find a way to break that spell." Jaden drew a card and looked at it before he placed it on his duel disk. "Go, Dark Catapulter!" The animal like knelt in front of him. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1500** LV: 4)

"What a lishus move." Chumley said. "Dark Catapulter has a special ability that will let Jaden destroy Dimitri's sword spell card."

Dimitri smirked. "Yes, but not until next round, and Catapulter won't be around that long. Because I have a trap card out!" His facedown card flipped up. "Dark Renewal. It activates when you make a summoning. Now by sacrificing one of your monsters, as well as one of my own, I can bring back a spellcaster monster from the graveyard."

"It's too bad you don't have any there then." Jaden replied. "By my count, the only two monsters in your grave are Chimera and Berfomet."

"Then you may want to double check your work. Remember when I played Monster Reincarnation?"

Jaden gasped at what Dimitri said.

* * *

 **Flashback**

"Now by discarding one card, I get back one monster from my graveyard."

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"Oh yeah."

"Now to bring back that spellcaster." Dimirti declared as a red and gold coffin appeared. "All right. Gazelle, Catapulter, make some room for the one, the only..." The two named monsters turned into streams of light which flowed into it. The coffin then closed itself. "My friend, Dark Magician!" It opened up, from which emerged the legendary spellcaster from Yugi's deck. He was clad in purple robes and wielded a turquoise staff. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 2100 LV: 7)

"I am star struck." Jaden said, amazed by the monster's appearance. "The Dark Magician like the headliner of Yugi's entire deck!"

"Think he'll give an autograph?" Syrus wondered.

"I wish I brought my camera." Chumley added.

"Never thought I would see Yugi's ace monster in action so close." Andrew admitted.

"If it wasn't for Dimitri being a thief who took it, I would have been more amazed." Shiori added.

 _'Well played. I doubt Yugi could have done it better himself.'_ Bastion thought. _'Dimitri's copying him perfectly. And that's not good for Jaden.'_

"Well Thunder Giant. You may not be able to attack yet, but you can still defend. And that's exactly what I'm gonna have you do, buddy." The giant man crossed his arms and kneeled down. "Your go, Dimitri!"

"That's Yugi." Dimitri reminded him as he drew his next card and inserted it into his duel disk. "And I choose to play the magic card, Thousand Knives." A multitude of glowing knives appeared in the air on Dimitri's field. "And when I activate it with Dark Magician on the field, they can be used to destroy anyone of your monsters." The purple clad spellcaster pointed his staff forward, making all the knives to hit Jaden's fusion monster.

"Jaden's Thunder Giant just got cut down to size." Syrus moaned.

"Size zero cuz he's gone." Chumley pointed out.

"This is bad." Andrew commented.

"Still star struck?" Dimitri asked. "Well, let's see how you like getting struck, by your star. Dark Magician, Dark Magic Attack!" The magician created a ball of magic energy from the tip of his staff and fired it at Jaden. He cried as the ball made contact.

"Oh no!" Syrus cried out.

"Jaden!" Chumley called out.

 **Jaden: 4000-1500**

"That hurt." Jaden said.

"Give up." Dimitri called out."

"Never!"

"That's the spirit. Never give up. Always believe in the Heart of the Cards. That's what I say."

"Oh please." Shiori moaned.

"Yeah yeah. The Heart of the Cards, sure." _'It's his cards I'm worried about.'_ Jaden thought. _'Either I beat him, or we lose them.'_

"Come on, Jaden. Don't give up." Andrew encouraged him.

 _'Alright Jaden, time to get your game on.'_ He thought as he drew his next card. _'Here goes something...'_ He took a card from his hand. "I hope. Wroughtweiler in defense mode!" The mechanical dog sat down in front of him. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 1200** LV: 3) "And that's it."

"Well well. There may be no known blueprint to defeat Yugi. But Jaden's still trying to design one," Bastion noted. "And if my hunch is right, what he's planning might work."

"Don't forget, with Swords of light out, you can't attack." Dimitri reminded Jaden as he drew a card. "But I can. Dark Magician, Dark Magic Attack!" The magician fired another ball of magical energy at the mechanical dog.

"Hey, congrats. You just activated Wroghtweiler's special ability. You see, once he's sent to the graveyard, I get to bring back and Elemental HERO and Polymerization." At that, Burstinatrix and the spell card in question came out of Jaden's graveyard.

"Way to play. You really show promise." Dimitri praised.

Not that Jaden really appreciated it. "This guy's really starting to bug me." He said as he drew a card. "Rise Burstinatrix!" The red clad female hero kneeled down in front of him, once again. (ATK: 1200 **DEF: 800** LV: 3) "Then I'm gonna throw down a facedown and call it a turn." A facedown card appeared near his feet. _'Burstinatrix is tough, but she's still no match for Dark Magician. There's only one monster in my deck right now that has more attack points than him. Elemental HERO Bladedge with 2600.'_ He glanced at the named that was in his hand. _'Either I summon him, or I lose this duel.'_

"Well it's been three turns now." Bastion pointed out.

"Then that means no more Swords of Revealing Light." Chumley added.

"Jaden, do you hear that? The spell's over. You can attack next turn." The swords of light disappeared.

"That's assuming that Jaden even has a next turn." Dimitri scoffed as he began his turn. "Dark Magician, attack Hero Burstinatrix!"

"Not so fast, Dimitri!" Jaden interrupted him. "I play a trap, A Hero Emerges! And it activates as soon as you declare an attack. Now you have to pick a card at random from my hand, and if it's a monster, I get to summon it to the field. Now choose."

"So be it. I choose the far left."

That made Jaden smirk. "Good choice... for me that is." He held up the card that was picked. "Come on out, Bladedge!" The golden armored hero appeared. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 1800 LV: 7)

"Yes, with Bladedge on the field, Jaden can stand up against the Dark Magician." Shiori cheered.

"And every other monster in Yugi's deck." Bastion added. "After all, with no Egyptian God cards, that Dark Magician is the strongest card Dimitri has."

"Which means Jaden has the upper hand now." Andrew said.

However, Dimitri laughed a little, confusing his opponent. "Sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear your friends. They're quite wrong."

"What?"

"It's true that Dark Magician is the strongest monster card in my deck, but as duelist, you must know that it's rarely just about the card, it's what you do with it. And what I'm going to do is play this…" A spell card appeared on Dimitri's field. "Dedication Through Light and Darkness." Dark energy surrounded it and extended towards Dark Magician, engulfing him before the card absorbed him. "It takes Dark Magician and turns him into something even more powerful. The legendary, Dark Magician of Chaos!"

"Of Chaos?" Syrus parroted.

"Boy that doesn't sound good." Chumley commented.

"Yes, well it's not." Bastion replied. "It's one of the mightiest creatures you'll ever see."

"That's right, and I'm about to unleash him on you, Jaden. Chaos Magician, rise!" The monster that appeared was a blue-faced man wearing a tight, black suit with red rings around his arms and legs. He was also wearing a wide headdress with the same colors as his suit. He had long black hair and carried a pointed black staff that was larger than the Dark Magician's. "Now just by successfully summoning him, I can bring one magic card from my graveyard to my hand." The card he took back was Monster Reincarnation. "Oh, and in case you haven't done the math yet, Bladegde doesn't have the most attack points anymore. Chaos Magician does!" ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 2600 LV: 8)

Syrus and Chumley gasped at the number of points.

"Oh no!" Andrew exclaimed.

"2800?" Jaden noted.

"Yes, now watch them all in action! Scepter Strike!" The new magician fired off a crackling orb of magical energy that slammed into Bladedge, thus destroying him.

 **Jaden: 1500-1300**

"Just face it. This deck and I fit perfectly. Always have, always will."

"Not if I can help it." Jaden retorted. _'Of course, to be honest, I don't know if I can. Against the King of Games, getting your game_ on, _may not be enough.'_

"Jaden's in deep trouble." Syrus commented.

"Unfortunately Syrus, that's the understatement of the year." Bastion replied. "Look what he has to contend against. The Dark Magician of Chaos, full life points, the King of Games' deck. The trouble isn't deep. It's subterranean."

"There's still a chance for Jaden to win this." Andrew remained confident. "We have to believe in him."

"I gotta get my game on." Jaden said to himself. "Not only does this guy have Yugi's deck, but he thinks he's Yugi. And the only way I'm gonna set him straight is by beating him." He then smirked. "Well, always did want how I stacked up against my idol. Guess this could be as close as I get. My turn!" He drew a card and it turned out to be… "Winged Kuriboh."

 _"Coo."_

"Are you sure? This could get rough, and we are going against your old master's monsters."

 _"Coo."_ The duel spirit gave Jaden an eye smile.

"All right then, I play my pal Winged Kuriboh!" The winged fur ball cooed as it appeared next to Burstinatrix. (ATK: 300 **DEF: 200** LV: 1) "And while he's chilling in defense mode, I'll also throw down a facedown." A card appeared behind his two monsters.

"Winged Kuriboh? Good to see you. Of course…" Dimitri said as he drew a card and looked at it. "There is nothing quite like the original." He played the card he drew. "Say hi, Kuriboh." The wingless mirror version of Jaden's monster appeared next to the spellcaster. ( **ATK: 300** DEF: 200 LV: 1)

"Two Kuribohs?" Syrus wondered.

"What are the odds you get to see that?" Shiori added.

"But first things first, Jaden. Dark Magician of Chaos, attack Burstinatrix!" The named magician dashed forward.

"Ha! I've got a trap, Super Junior Confrontation!" Jaden's facedown card flipped up. "Yeah, I know what you're thinking, sounds kinda weak, doesn't it. Well, that's just the point. This trap calls off your magician's attack and forces both of our weakest monsters to do battle. Weakest in points that is. So it's gonna be your Kuriboh against mine."

"A hairball battle royale." Chumley commented.

The original Kuriboh flew towards Jaden's field and tackled his winged counterpart. "You got off easy, but next turn you won't. I end with a facedown." A facedown card appeared on the field at the same time as Kuriboh returned to Dimitri's side.

 _'Winged Kuriboh took one for the team there.'_ Bastion thought. _'Losing Burstinatrix would have put Jaden in a tight spot.'_

It was then Phantom Magician appeared beside Andrew. _"Your friend may be behind a little, but he's still in this duel."_

Andrew nodded. _'This won't be easy, but I know Jaden can win. As long as he believes he can.'_

"My go." Jaden announced. "And I play Pot of Greed. It lets me draw two cards." He looked at them. "And they're two sweet ones. Hope you like playing with bubbles, cuz I'm summoning Elemental HERO Bubbleman!" The water appeared, his cape fluttering behind him. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And I'll play a field spell, one you might need a hard hat for. Skyscraper!" As as Jaden inserted his field spell, tall buildings rose around both duelists.

"What the? What's the meaning of these buildings?" Dimitri exclaimed.

"Meaning? To kick your butt, Dimitri." Syrus said.

"That's right. Cuz here an Elemental HERO gains a thousand attack points if it's weaker than the monster it's attacking."

"But, that would mean that…" Dimitri realized.

"You're in trouble, especially since I'm gonna play this too: the equip spell, Bubble Blaster!" A large bazooka like weapon with a water reservoir appeared on Bubbleman's shoulder. "And this thing packs some pop, 800 points worth. Plus if Bubbleman ever gets attacked, Bubble Blaster takes the hit for him. Now to give him those extra points…" ( **ATK: 800-1600** ) "And now, to use them!" The water hero fired a large bubble from his weapon at the furry monster on Dimitri's field.

"Let's go, Bubbleman! Clean that Kuriboh's clock!" Syrus cheered.

"But which Kuriboh?" Dimitri asked with a smirk.

"Uh oh." Jaden said.

"I play the magic card, Multiply." The moment his facedown card flipped up, Kuriboh shattered into pixels and was immediately replaced by four copies of him.

"What the…?"

"Now there are four of them!" Syrus exclaimed.

"That's correct. By sacrificing one Kuriboh, I can now summon Kuriboh Tokens on all opened spaces in my monster card zone." (ATK: 300 **DEF: 200** LV: 1) x4 "Of course, your blast is still in play, but its significance has been deflated."

"Fine, then I'll just end my turn by throwing down a facedown." Jaden concluded as he placed a facedown card.

"Very well." Dimitri drew his next card. "And I'll throw this, the magical Card of Sanctity. It forces each of us to draw until we both have six cards in our hands." Both duelists drew their extra cards. Dimitri glanced at one of his own and smiled. "Excellent, I drew the monster Watapon." The monster card had the picture of a cute little, white puffball with antennas. (ATK: 200 DEF: 300 LV: 1) "You see, if Watapon is drawn to my hand by the way of magic, trap or monster effect, I can summon it to the field. But still, he won't be out for long. Because now I'm going to sacrifice him and bring out…" The white puff appeared for a moment before it was replaced by a different monster. "Dark Magician Girl!" It was a young and beautiful woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She even had a slight blush on her cheeks. She wore a blue magician's hat, robe and boots with a pink mini-skirt and carried a a small scepter. The spellcaster spun gracefully as she made her appearance. ( **ATK: 2000** DEF: 1700 LV: 6)

"Wow, she's even cuter in person." Jaden remarked.

"The Dark Magician Girl…" Syrus was blushing.

"Um, are you okay Syrus?" Shiori asked as he waved his hand in front of the smaller Slifer's face, who didn't react at all.

"She has both beauty and brawn." Dimitri spoke up. "You see for every Dark Magician in the graveyard, she gains 300 attack points." The female magician was temporarily surrounded by a pink aura. ( **ATK: 2000-2300** ) "And o the subject of Dark Magicians, don't forget about this one. Dark Magician of Chaos, attack!" The powerful magician fired off a blast of magical energy that was blocked by Bubbleman's blaster. ( **ATK: 1600-800** ) "Now what he started, she'll finish. Dark Magician Girl, Dark Burning Attack!" The female magician raised her scepter and shot a sphere of pink magic at the water hero.

 **Jaden: 1300-0800**

"The Heart of the Cards are indeed powerful, aren't they Jaden?"

"All right, so you got me with a couple good shots. Now it's my turn." The Slifer said while scratching his nose.

"Your turn?"

"Yeah, that's right." He drew a card. "To return the favor and with this card I just drew, I'll be able to return it and then some." A familiar green clad hero with white wings appeared on the field, following up with Polymerization which was flipped up. "I fuse Avian and Burstinatrix to summon the Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!" They there combined to form Jaden's headliner. ( **ATK: 2100** DEF: 1200 LV: 6) "But I'm not done. Next I play The Warrior Returning Alive. It lets me bring back a past warrior monster, like Sparkman." The electric hero appeared next to Flame Wingman. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "And don't forget Skyscraper is still out, which means Flame Wingman gets an extra thousand attack points in battle." ( **ATK: 2100-3100** )

"But wait! 3100 attack points!" Dimitri said in realization. "That's-"

"Yup, enough to take out your magician, either one. But since I have a soft spot for the girl, we'll start with him." The fusion leapt in the air, his body covered an flames, and dove down at the Chaos Magician, slamming into him and destroying him.

 **Dimitri: 4000-3700**

"Oh yeah! And I also have Wingman's super power. It causes you to take damage to your life points equal to the attack points of your destroyed monster."

 **Dimitri: 3700-0900**

"Take that!" Chumley cheered. "Yugi, Dimitri, whatever your name is!"

"Way to play Jay! Nice work!" Syrus added.

"That's more like it" Shiori cheered.

"I knew he'd make a comeback." Andrew said smiling.

"Crazy! I'm beating Yugi's deck!" Jaden said.

 _'Simply remarkable.'_ Bastion thought. _'Dimitri is dueling just as the King of Games would, yet Jaden is staying competitive, winning even. Sure, he was a bit_ _overwhelmed at first by Yugi's deck, but now he's really turned things around. Who knows, maybe one day his deck will be going on tour right beside Yugi's, assuming he can win it back that is.'_

"Sparkman, attack! Sparkstorm!" The electric hero brought his hands overhead and thrust them forward, firing a stream of electricity, destroying one of the Kuriboh Tokens. "Next I'll throw down two facedowns and use the spell card Emergency Provisions. Now by sacrificing one those facedowns, I get back a thousand life points." The spell card removed one of the facedown cards that was placed on the field.

 **Jaden: 0800-1800**

"Sweet, don't you think?" _'But not as sweet as what's about to happen. I mean, one more attack and I'll have beaten the King of Games' deck.'_

 _"Your friend is doing well."_ Andrew's duel spirit commented.

 _'That's Jaden for ya.'_ Andrew replied.

"Jaden, he's all yours! You've got him!" Syrus cheered.

"You have nothing, my deck is prepared for all contingencies!" Dimitri roared as he drew his card. "First I'll switch Dark Magician Girl to defense mode." The female magician kneeled. "Then I'll activate, Spider Web." A white string came from the spell card and reached for Jaden's graveyard. "It allows me to take one of the cards you sent to your graveyard last turn and place it directly into my hand. And soon, it will go directly into my life points." The string deposited the chosen card in Dimitri's hand. "Because I chose Emergency Provisions. Next I'll place two cards facedown, then I'll activate the spell card Monster Reincarnation. And next I'll make three sacrifices…" The spell card he just played, along with the two facedowns disappeared. "Which lets me play Emergency Provisions."

 **Dimitri: 0900-3900**

"Finally, thanks to Reincarnation, I'll take back the Kuriboh I just lost. So, did you follow all of that?"

"Not a word of it." Syrus spoke up.

"Well, I did." Shiori said.

"Me too." Jaden added as he began his turn. "Sweet moves. But they won't save you from the Flame Wingman! Skydive Scorcher!" The green and red hero dive bombed Dark Magician Girl. "And don't forget his super power, you get hit for damage equal the attack points of the Dark Magician Girl." the hero landed in front of Dimitri and blasted him with fire from his dragon arm.

 **Dimitri: 3900-1600**

"Good thing I padded my points last turn."

"Yeah? Well, good thing I have a couple of attacks left. I'll use the spell card De-Fusion. Now Flame Wingman, de-fuse!" The fusion monster turned back into his fusion materials. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 800 LV: 3) ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1000 LV: 3)

"My, Jaden's impressing more and more every turn." Bastion said amazed. "What skillful play. Now he'll be able to attack with each monster separately."

"Avian, attack! Talon Hair!" The winged hero at one of the tokens and raked it with his taloned foot. "And now Burstinatrix, Flares Storm!" The female hero formed a fireball in her hands and threw it at the remaining token.

"Now that's how you duel." Syrus cheered.

"Lishus. One one more attack and he'll nail Dimitri's life points." Chumley said.

"Yes and with Sparkman on the field, his next attack will be right now." Bastion replied.

"Which means Yugi's deck will be saved." Andrew said.

"And Jaden is about to be one few guys who beat it." Shiori added.

"Now Sparkman, Spark Storm!" The golden and blue hero fired another stream of electricity.

However, Dimitri wasn't worried at all. " Sorry, but you're forgetting about someone… Kuriboh." As he held up the card in question, the furry monster appeared in front of Dimitri to take the hit.

"What the?"

"By discarding Kuriboh, I don't take any damage from Sparkman's little firework display. Good thing Monster Reincarnation let me bring him back from the graveyard last turn."

"Oh yeah. My bad."

"Thank you Kuriboh." Dimitri said, glancing at his duel disk. "That move takes me back to our duel against Seto Kaiba at Battle City. Those were some good times, weren't they old friend?"

"Battle City? This guy is getting crazier than earlier." Shiori commented.

"I mean, what's next? Duelist Kingdom?" Syrus added.

"Sy, just smile and nod, smile and nod." Chumley said, a little weirded out by Dimitri's antics.

"Now then, let's continue this, for Kuriboh. His fall won't be in vain." Dimitri drew a card and smiled at what he got. "Perfect. The Heart of the Cards has served me again. I remove one dark monster and light monster from my graveyard." At that, Kuriboh and Watapon appeared in front of him.

"Pause and rewind. You're removing them why, Dimitri?" Jaden asked.

"I've never seen this. Is it a summoning?" Syrus wondered.

"Nah, there's no way." Chumley replied.

Bastion let out a gasp. "You're wrong. There is a way. There are two monsters that can be summoned like this. Two rare cards of such power, duelists have scoured the world to add them to their collection."

"The Envoys!" Andrew figured.

"No way!" Shiori gasped.

"You've heard of them?" Bastion asked.

"Yeah, I've even heard that Seto Kaiba himself summoned one of them in a duel against a man named Ziegfried. That monster was Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End. A monster with an ability that made it so very powerful that it's been outlawed in official duel monsters tournaments. I don't remember the name of the other card, but from what I've heard, that monster card has power comparable to the Chaos Emperor, but hasn't been forbidden from the tournaments. I've also heard people saying that the card is so rare that there might not be any of them left."

Dimitri smirked. "Oh, well they're wrong, because I have one right here! Black Luster Soldier - Envoy of the Beginning!" The two tiny monsters flew into a swirling vortex and were replaced by a warrior. He had a dark-blue armor with golden linings, a curved blade, and an almost triangular shield with the same coloring as the armor. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 2500 LV: 8)

"So then Yugi really _did_ have that card. I always thought it was just a rumor." Jaden mentioned, enthralled by the soldier.

"I'm afraid not. This card has been a part of my deck for a long time. But I only take him out for... special occasions. Like now! Luster Blade Attack!" The warrior the air with his sword, projecting a flurry of smaller ones that cut down Avian.

 **Jaden: 1800-0800**

"Ngh, that hurt." Jaden said.

"Well that was just the beginning. Now I'll show you the true power of this card. You see, if the Black Luster Soldier is able to destroy a monster in battle, he's allowed to attack again."

"No way!" Jaden exclaimed.

"Aw man. Now I'm starting to see why monsters like these are outlawed." Syrus whimpered.

"And now, Black Luster Soldier, end this!" The warrior dashed towards Burstinatrix with his swords at the ready.

"He's through! Jaden's life points cant withstand another hit." Bastion pointed out.

"Jaden!" Andrew shouted.

"It's over!" Dimitri said triumphantly.

"Not yet! I play the card Hero Spirit!" The spirit of Avian emerged in front of Burstinatrix and blocked the attack.

"What's this?"

"It's not the end of the duel. Cuz if a hero is destroyed and I play Hero Spirit, I can turn all the damage received from your monster to zero."

"Fine then. I'll just finish you off next turn. The Heart of the Cards will see to that."

 _'He may be right. Yugi's deck is just so powerful. I thought I could win, but now I don't know.'_ Jaden thought worriedly.

It was then Andrew's Phantom Magician went over to Jaden and Winged Kuriboh appeared.

 _"Coo."_

 _"Jaden, you can't start thinking like that. You can still win this."_ Phantom Magician.

"But how? He's got the Heart of the cards on his side."

Winged Kuriboh shook its body as if saying no.

"You're wrong Jaden." Andrew said. "Just think about it. There's an obvious reason why Dimitri doesn't have the Heart of the Cards."

"What do you mean? I mean, come on, that's Yugi's deck." But it was then Jaden gasped as it dawned on him. _'Wait a sec. That's it! That's Yugi's deck. There's no way the Heart of the Cards can be on Dimitri's side. The Heart of the Cards comes from believing in your own cards, not someone's you stole.'_

 _"That's right."_ Phantom Magician said while Winged Kuriboh nodded.

Jaden smirked. _'And I believe in my deck. So if the Heart of the Cards is on anyone's side, it's on mine.'_ He gave Andrew a thumbs before drawing his next card. "Sorry Dimitri, but I believe."

"What?"

"I activate Silent Doom! This very handy spell card allows me to summon one monster from my graveyard in defense mode. So come on back, Avian!" The green hero appeared in a kneeling position. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1000** LV: 3) "Next I'll play this." Jaden held up another spell card. "It's called Double Spell. Now by discarding one spell card from my hand, I can use one spell card from my opponent's graveyard. If you need more info, just look in the official rulebook under the heading, 'How'd I lose'."

"Sounds like Jaden's got something planned." Bastion noted.

"So I'll discard this and help myself to your Polymerization." Jaden discarded a card and made Dimitri gasp as the spell card he wanted came out of the graveyard. "Now I'll fuse Avian and Burstinatrix to create my deck's headliner one more time. The Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!" After the green and red heroes merged together, the Wingman came out of the fusion vortex and landed on the tip of the tallest Skyscraper. "And since my Skyscraper field card is still out, he gains an extra 1000 attack points." ( **ATK: 2100-3100** ) "Now Flame Wingman, attack Black Luster Soldier with Skydive Scorcher!" The hero dove down and slammed his flame covered dragon arm into the warrior monster.

 **Dimitri: 1600-1500**

"He's gone! My Luster Soldier's gone!" Dimitri exclaimed.

"Don't sweat it. He was never yours to begin with. Besides, if you want to worry about something, worry about Wingman's superpower. It makes it so all your destroyed monster's attack points are dealt as damage to you." Jaden's hero shot a blast of fire from his dragon arm that made Dimitri cry out as he lost the remaining life points.

 **Dimitri: 1500-0000**

"That's game." Jaden gave him his trade mark pose. "And the end of you using that deck."

"I've been beaten…" Dimitri said as he fell to his knees. "Even with my... with Yugi's legendary cards." He said in his normal voice. "What's wrong with me? Why can't I ever win?"

"The answer to _that_ is obvious." They all turned to face the direction the voice came from and saw Zane, accompanied by Alexis and Jenny."

"Hey, you're Zane." Dimitri said.

"Big bro?" Syrus said.

"Why're you guys here?" Andrew asked.

"Why else? To see the deck. but it was gone." Zane replied.

"We snuck into the event hall and saw how the display case was broken into." Alexis explained.

"We figured the thief couldn't have gotten far, so we decided to take a look around." Jenny filled in.

"Which led us here." Zane added. "We found you a while ago, but didn't want to interrupt the duel."

"Kind of you." Bastion remarked.

Jaden's eyes widened. "Wait then, you saw it all? Me and Dimitri? The whole thing?"

"Not just us. Your match attracted quite a bit of attention." Zane looked upwards. Everyone turned to see at least a dozen other students on the cliffs above them.

"Whoa. Uh, hi. Glad you all could make it." Jaden said as they all applauded.

"Man, that Jaden can duel." A Ra Yellow said.

"Do you think he tutors? I'm failing fusion." Another Ra said.

"What now?" Dimitri asked.

"Well kid, the punishment for stealing has always been crystal clear: straight up expulsion. But still, since I think pretty much everyone here enjoyed seeing Yugi's deck in a duel rather than a display case, I doubt anyone will turn you in."

"Don't sweat it, Dimitri. But you gotta tell us. How are you so good with those spellcasters?"

"I'm failing that too."

"What difference does it make? I lost." Dimitri said.

"You didn't lose. That person you were pretending to be did, Dimitri." Jaden said.

"Yugi?"

"No bro, you can never be Yugi."

"Then who was I?"

"Well, you were you, but you weren't. See, when you copy someone, it's not like you're that person. You're you copying that person. Ya know." Jaden looked up. "Yeah, that makes sense, right?"

"Not quite." Andrew commented.

"Let me attempt to interpret for him, Dimitri." Zane said. "You'll never win or lose until you put yourself out there. And that means creating your own deck and your own strategies. Not piggybacking off of someone else's. After all, there is no amount of studying that you can do to be able to use someone else's deck as well as they can."

"Yeah. What Zane said. That's exactly what I meant. I mean, no offense, but just cuz I beat you, it doesn't mean I could've beat Yugi. So how about we put that deck back where it belongs?"

"Yeah, ok."

* * *

The next morning, the exhibit hall was with students looking at the posters of Yugi and his deck in the display case. Jaden was smiling as he, Andrew, Shiori, Chumley and Jenny were hanging out together. "Would you look at that. Everything's back to normal, huh?"

Chumley nodded. "Well, I mean, you know, as normal as things get around this crazy place."

"That's true." Jenny said. "Thanks again for the ticket." She told Andrew.

"No problem. I'm glad I could help you."

"So anyway, what's that you've got there, Jaden." Chumley asked, noticing the rolled up poster he held.

"What, this?" Jaden said as he unrolled it. "Just an autographed poster of the King of Games."

"Whoa."

"Yeah, I know. Pretty sweet, right guys?"

"It sure is." Shiori said. "But just so you know, I heard Dimitri. He was still talking in the Yugi voice when he put that deck back. And then he got into the merchandise, and he had a pen." Jaden laughed a little.

"Jaden! Jaden!" All of them turned to see Syrus running up to them.

"What's up, Sy?"

"It's Dimitri. He's at it again."

"You're joking, right?" Andrew asked.

"Umm, no."

* * *

The group ran though the forest until they came across Dimitri... only he looked different. He was wearing a Slifer Red jacket, had the same haircut as Jaden, as well as the same shirt and pants.

"I've been waiting for you." He turned around so they all could have a good look at him.

"Uhh, Dimitri, what are you doing?!" Jaden asked as he was obviously weirded out by Dimitri's new look.

"Who's this Dimitri? My name is Jaden, and I'm a Slifer Red. Now… listen, we're dueling, so turn your game on!"

Everyone fell over at those words. Jaden slapped himself in the face. "Its _get_ your game on. Say it right."

"Yeah, whatever. We'll settle it in a duel, so let's throw up... wait I mean, let's throw down. Look, let's just duel. Come on, get your deck out. This is gonna be swell." Dimitri tried to throw Jaden's trade mark pose, only he made an awful attempt.

Which made Jaden even more annoyed. "It's sweet! And you're not even close to doing my pose right!"

"Well what's wrong?" The copycat duelist asked confused.

Everyone sweat dropped as Jaden began to give Dimitri pointers on how to correctly imitate him.

"I want a catchphrase." Chumley said.

"Yeah, I think I just want out of here." Syrus added.

"This is stupid." Shiori commented.

"No kidding." Jenny said. "So how do we convince Dimitri to drop this act?"

"Maybe I can." Andrew suggested as he approached the two Jaden's. "Hey Dimitri."

"It's Jaden."

"Dimitri, Jaden, whatever. You know I'm talking to you. Anyway, I propose that you and I duel. If you win, you're allowed to duel Jaden. If I win, you become Dimitri again and use your own deck. Sounds good?"

"Well that's fine by me." Jaden said.

"Fine with me! I always wanted to see how my heroes handles yours." Dimitri said.

"You mean _his_ heroes." Andrew replied, indicating Jaden. "Let's just get this duel started.

Both of inserted their deck and started their duel disks.

"Duel!"

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Dimitri: 4000**

"I'll start." Dimitri declared and drew a card. "First I summon Elemental HERO Sparkman." The electric hero appeared in front of him. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "Then I'll throw down a facedown." A card appeared behind the hero.

"Not a bad start." Andrew commented as he drew a card. "But it's not much compared to Elemental HERO Stratos." The turbine winged hero appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 300 LV: 4) "And thanks to his special ability, I can take a HERO monster from my deck and add it to my hand. Like my Blazeman." He took the named card from his deck and placed it in his hand. "Now Stratos, attack his Sparkman!" The wind hero created a cyclone from his wings that shattered Sparkman to pixels.

 **Dimitri: 4000-3800**

"I play the trap, Hero Signal!" A ray of with an 'H' appeared from the facedown card. "This lets me summon a level 4 or lower Elemental HERO from my hand or deck, like Clayman." The stone knelt down in Sparkman's place. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4)

"I end my turn with a facedown card." Andrew concluded.

"My turn then." Dimitri drew a card. "And I play the spell card Monster Reborn, and I'll use it to bring back my Sparkman." The electric hero returned to the field. "Next I'll play Polymerization and fuse Sparkman with Clayman to create Elemental HERO Thunder Giant!" The two heroes merged and became the yellow armored giant. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 1500 LV: 6) "And now, since your monster's original attack points are less than his own, Thunder Giant can destroy him." The electric giant shot a blast of electricity from his palm and zapped Stratos until he exploded. "And that leaves you wide open for a direct attack. Voltic Thunder!" The hero shot another blast that went straight towards Andrew.

"I play the trap card, Call of the Haunted." His facedown card flipped up. "This lets me summon back a monster from my graveyard. I resurrect my Stratos." The turbine winged hero appeared once again. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 300 LV: 4) "And once again, I can take a HERO from my deck to my hand. And I choose Elemental HERO Knospe." He held up the card he took.

"Fine, then I'll just attack your Stratos." Again, Stratos was zapped by Thunder Giant.

 **Andrew: 4000-3400**

"That's all for now."

Andrew drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman." The flame- headed warrior with red armor rose up on the field. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "And with him summoned, I can take a Polymerization from my deck and add it to my hand." After he took it from his deck, he held it up. "And I'll use it to fuse Blazeman and Knospe to to summon the Elemental HERO Gaia." The flame-headed hero merged with the flower bud, and in their place stood the black armored giant, staring down at Dimitri's monster. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF: 2600 LV: 6) "When this guy is fusion summoned, he absorbs half of your monster's attack points for this turn. And there's only one monster on your field." Gaia held up his right palm and absorbed energy from Thunder Giant. ( **ATK: 2400-1200** ) ( **ATK: 2200-3400** ) "Now Gaia, attack with Continent Smash!" The earth hero raised his right arm and slammed the opposing hero so hard the ground shook.

 **Dimitri: 3800-1600**

"With that, I end my turn with a facedown." A card appeared at Andrew's feet.

"Well, so far Andrew is doing well." Jenny said.

"Yeah. And even though Dimitri's the one dueling, it is kinda cool to see Andrew's deck against mine. That makes me looking forward for the day when we finally face-off." Jaden said.

"You said it." Andrew replied.

"But we are facing off." Dimitri said.

"Not you, the real Jaden. Let's just move on." Andrew said almost annoyed.

"All right then." Dimitri began his next turn. "I summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman." The familiar water hero emerged. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "If he's the only card on my field when he's summoned, I can draw two cards." Dimitri smiled at the two cards he drew. "Swell!"

"I told you, it's 'sweet'!" Jaden snapped.

"First I play Pot of Greed, so I can draw two cards." Dimitri drew another two cards. "And I drew just what I need. The first one is this, Fusion Recovery. This spell card lets me take back a Polymerization and a fusion material monster from my graveyard to my hand." The named spell card, along with Clayman came out of the graveyard slot before he placed them in his hand. "And next, I activate the field spell Skyscraper." Everyone was surrounded by the familiar city-like area. "And why stop there, when I can also play the equip spell Bubble Blaster." Bubbleman was now holding his Bazooka. "This gives Bubbleman 800 extra attack points." ( **ATK: 800-1600** ) "And there's more. With Skyscraper in play, he gains a thousand more attack points if the monster he battles with is stronger. Now go, Bombarding Bubble Barrage!" The hero shot a stream of bubbles. ( **ATK: 1600-2600** )

"You triggered my facedown card, Enemy Controller." A video game controller emerged from Andrew's facedown card. "This spell has two effects, and I can activate one of them. I choose the first one, which lets me change your monster's battle mode." The cable of the controller attached itself to Bubbleman, causing the attack to be interrupted. And then, the controller's buttons were automatically pressed in following order: B, up, right, A, right, down. And that caused Bubbleman to kneel down to defense mode.

"Awesome." Syrus cheered.

"Yup, that's exactly what I would've done." Chumley said.

"Nice one, Andrew." Jaden cheered.

"Okay, I'll just throw down two facedowns and play Mirage of Nightmare." Two facedown cards and the familiar continuous spell appeared.

"I draw." Andrew said as he began his turn.

"Hold on! Since your turn begins, my mirage card makes me draw until I have four cards in my hand." Since Dimitri had two cards in his hand, he drew two more. "And then I'll use Emergency Provisions to send Mirage to the grave and regain one thousand life points." His spell flipped and got rid of the continuous spell, making a blue aura surround him.

 **Dimitri: 1600-2600**

"Fine, I'll start my turn by activating the spell card HERO's Bond. With a HERO on the field, I can summon two level 4 or lower Elemental Heroes from my hand. So I'll bring out Elemental HERO Ocean and Heat." Gaia was joined by the aquatic hero and white and red armored man. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And my Heat has a special ability: he gains 200 attack points for every Elemental HERO on my side of the field." The hero glowed as he became stronger. ( **ATK: 1600-2200** )

"Nice. He got three monsters on the field." Jenny noted.

"Which means Andrew's about to give Dimitri a fierce hero smack down." Jaden added.

"Now Ocean, attack Bubbleman with Big Wave Crush!" The aquatic hero dashed forward and prepared to stab his opponent with his blue glowing trident.

"Nice try, but when Bubbleman can survive by letting his Blaster take the hit." Dimitri's monster use his weapon as shield to block the attack, causing it to get destroyed. (ATK: 1600-800)

"That's okay, I have two monsters left. Now Heat, attack with Burning Fist!" The fire hero ignited his right fist and dashed forward.

"I play the trap card, Hero Barrier!" Dimitri's facedown card flipped up and created a barrier in front of Bubbleman. "Since I have an Elemental HERO on the field, I can negate your attack." Andrew's hero punched the barrier, causing it to disappear.

"Then I'll let Gaia finish him off." The giant hero slammed Buubleman with his right arm. "I end my turn with a facedown card." Another card appeared at Andrew's feet.

"Then here goes." Dimitri drew a card. "And I activate the spell card Polymerization and fuse Elemental HERO Avian and Burstinatrix to create Elemental HERO Flame Wingman." The monster who had defeated Yugi's deck came together against Andrew. ( **ATK: 2100** DEF: 1200 LV: 6)

"Uh oh. Andrew is in big trouble." Syrus noted.

"Not lishus." Chumley added.

"No worries guys. He'll be fine." Jaden assured them, believing in his friend's skills.

"Then I summon Elemental HERO Clayman in attack mode." The stone hero appeared again. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 2000 LV: 4) "And don't forget, thanks to Skyscraper, my heroes gets stronger when they fight against your monsters. Now Flame Wingman, attack Gaia with Infernal Rage!" ( **ATK: 2100-3100** ) The fusion hero shot a blast of fire at the giant, thus destroying him.

 **Andrew: 3400-2500** ( **ATK: 2200-2000** )

"And here's a taste of Wingman's superpower: you take damage equal to your destroyed monster's attack points." Dimitri's monster fired a second blast Andrew who crossed his arms to defend himself.

 **Andrew: 2500-0300**

"Ooh, Andrew's almost out of points." Jenny commented.

"He will be if Clayman's attack becomes successful." Shiori added.

"Now Clayman, attack Ocean with Clay Clobber!" The stone hero dashed forward and pulled back its right fist. ( **ATK: 800-1800** )

"I play my trap…" Andrew's card revealed itself. "Blast with Chain. Thanks to its effect, I can equip it to a monster and give it 500 attack points. So I'll give Ocean a power boost." The hero in question got a certain bomb in his left hand. ( **ATK: 1500-2000** )

"No way!" Dimitri exclaimed.

"That's right, my monster is now stronger than yours." The aquatic hero stabbed Clayman with his trident, causing him to explode.

 **Dimitri: 2600-2400**

"Sweet!" Jaden cheered.

"Nice." Jenny added.

"That was close." Shiori commented."

"Fine, I'll just throw down a facedown." Dimitri concluded as he inserted a card facedown.

"Then it's my turn." Andrew drew a card. "You played well, Dimitri, but not good enough I'm afraid."

"What do you mean?" Dimitri asked.

Andrew smiled. "I'll show you, starting with this." His water hero glowed. "With Ocean on the field, I can take a hero monster form my field or graveyard and add it to my hand. And I think you remember this one." A certain monster card came out of his graveyard slot. "My Elemental HERO Stratos." "The turbine winged hero appeared again. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 300 LV: 4) ( **ATK: 2000-2200** ) "And now I'll use his second effect: for every other HERO I control, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field."

"But then…" Dimitri realized.

"That's right, I can get rid of your field spell _and_ your facedown card." The wind hero created another cyclone that blew Dimitri's facedown card away. Additionally, the field spell tray popping open, making all the buildings disappear.

"Oh no!"

"Oh yeah!" Jaden cheered.

"Nice." Shiori said.

"Let's end this. Elemental HERO Heat, attack Flame Wingman!" The fire hero gave his opponent a fiery uppercut using his Burning Fist.

 **Dimitri: 2400-2300**

"Now Ocean, Stratos, it's your turn." The two remaining heroes dashed forward to attack Dimitri. Ocean stabbed him with his trident, and Stratos punched him.

 **Dimitri: 2300-0000**

"And that's game." Andrew said as the holograms disappeared, but then realized what he said. "Oops, sorry for using your catchphrase Jaden."

"Nah, it's cool." Jaden said.

"Nicely played, Andrew." Jenny praised.

"Thanks." Andrew turned towards. Dimitri. "Well, Dimitri? Will you make your own deck like you promised.

"Yeah, I will." He said.

"Good."

"But I've gotta say, after dueling you with Jaden's deck, I can't wait until you two face-off."

"I couldn't agree more." Andrew smiled as he walked back with his friends. "We better get ready for the day we duel each other, Jaden."

"You got it, bro."

* * *

 **Ooookay, that was a long chapter. But I hope you like it. Until next time.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Mother's Day Special**

As usual, it was a peaceful day at Duel Academy, and right now, Andrew was hanging around his dorm, with his cellphone in hand. Apparently he was talking to someone.

 _"So how are you doing?"_ A female voice asked.

"I'm doing fine, mom." Andrew replied. "The studies aren't so hard."

 _"Good to here. I just wish you didn't have to be so far away."_ His mom said with an almost sad tone.

Andrew smiled softly. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm not alone here."

 _"Yeah, that's true. You've got friends there with you, so I should know better."_

Andrew nodded. "Yeah. Well, I wish to talk to you more, but I promised Jenny to meet up for studying."

 _"Oooh. Is it a date?"_

That question caused Andrew to blush. "N-no, it's not! I told you, we're just friends!"

He could hear his mom giggling. _"Whatever you say, sweetheart. Have fun.~"_ At that, she hang up.

Andrew sighed. "Jeez, she can be embarrassing sometimes."

* * *

 _Wilson's residence_

Andrew's mom, Marie, was sitting on the coach and watched the news on TV. She was wearing her usual indigo blue sweater and white skirt. Even though she was watching the news, she didn't pay much attention. Because she missed her son. She knew that he was okay, but she still missed him. Sure, he did come home the winter break, but it would be nice to spend some more time with Andrew.

It was then Andrew's father, George, entered from the hall. He was wearing a white sweater and a pair of black pants. "Hi honey, I'm home."

"Hi dear." Marie replied with a low tone.

George looked at her worriedly. "What's the matter, Marie?"

"Nothing. I just miss Andrew, that's all. I know he said he's doing fine, but sometimes I wish I could see it personally."

George smiled, understanding how she felt. He missed their son as well. "Yeah, I know." He then glanced at something in his left hand. "You know what? There is something you can do."

The wife looked at him. "What?"

"I found this in the mailbox." He handed her what appeared to be a piece of paper. She looked at it and noticed the DA logo at the right, upper corner. But then it was these words that caught her attention:

 **"Duel Academy Mother's Day"**

 **For you who has a child attending to Duel Academy, is welcome to visit our prestigious school**

 **for a chance to spend some time with your children.**

 **We will also give you a tour around and serve lunch at the school gym.**

 **Additionally, we're going to randomly choose two of the students have an exhibition match**

Marie kept reading the invitation carefully. It also read the time the boat to the academy will leave. Once she was done, she looked at her husband with a brightened mood. "Oh George…"

He smiled. "You should go. I'm sure Andrew will be glad to see you."

Marie nodded and glanced at the invitation. "Yeah.

* * *

A few day passed, and everything was normal at the academy. Some students were walking around campus while others were sitting on benches and chatted. If one were to look at a bench in particular, one could see Andrew and Jenny sitting on it with the latter looking at an opened notebook.

"Okay, let's see if you can solve this…" She said. "Your opponent has 4500 life points, and a monster known as Newdoria in attack mode. Your life points are down to 1400. You have a monster called Summoner Monk and a facedown trap card called Generation Shift on your field. In your hand, you have four spell cards: Monster Reincarnation, Polymerization, Premature Burial and Reinforcement of the Army. In your deck, you have four monsters: Summoner Monk, Queen's Knight, King's Knight and Jack's Knight. Finally, you have one monster in your fusion deck: Arkana Knight Joker. Now, what will you do to wipe out your opponent's life points in one turn?"

Andrew rubbed his chin while thinking. He then hummed before he snapped his fingers. "Okay, I know:

First I activate Summoner Monk's ability, which lets me summon a level 4 monster from my deck by discarding a spell card from my hand. So I'll discard Monster Reincarnation to summon Queen's Knight.

Next I'll use the trap card Generation Shift, which lets me destroy a monster I control and then add a copy of that monster from my deck to my hand. So by destroying Summoner Monk, I'll add the other one to my hand.

Then I'll use Reinforcement of the Army to add King's Knight from my deck to my hand since it's a warrior type monster that is up to level 4.

Then I'll summon King's Knight to the field, and activate its ability. By having Queen's Knight on my field when he's normal summoned, I can summon Jack's Knight from my deck.

Then with all three of them on the field, I'll use Polymerization to fuse the knight monsters and summon Arkana Knight Joker, a monster with 3800 attack points.

Next, I'll activate the spell card Premature Burial, which lets me pay 800 life points and then summon a monster from my graveyard. And the monster I summon is Jack's Knight.

After that, I attack Newdoria with Jack's Knight, causing the opponent to take 700 points of damage, bringing them down from 4500 to 3800.

When Newdoria is destroyed in battle and sent to the graveyard, its special ability activates, which destroys a monster on the field. And this is when I'll use Arkana Knight Joker's ability. When he's targeted by a card effect, like Newdoria's ability, I can negate its activation by discarding a card from my hand that is the same type as the card that was activated. So by discarding the monster card Summoner Monk, Newdoria's effect is cancelled out. And that leaves the opponent wide open for a direct attack from Joker, wiping out the rest of their life points."

After hearing Andrew's answer, Jenny smiled proudly. "Correct. That was very good." She praised.

"Thanks, that was kinda tricky."

"Well, it wouldn't be a challenge if it wasn't tricky, would it?" She asked. "If you know your resources and your opponent's... if you're able to plan ahead, it may get done quicker and safer since your opponent cannot stop it."

Andrew nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

A few students passed by and spoke to each other.

"I can't wait to see my mom." An Obelisk blue girl said.

"Me neither. It's almost boring to not see her for so long." Another girl said.

"I don't mind if my mom comes, but I hate it when she say something embarrassing." A Slifer red student said.

"I feel you, man." A Ra Yellow student replied.

Andrew blinked. "What's with all this talk about their mothers?"

Jenny gave him a curious look. "Didn't you know? Tomorrow is Mother's Day, and mothers from various students are allowed to visit the academy."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I've heard that they're going to get a tour and have lunch served in a restaurant that is set up in the gym. And also, anyone who want to, can submit their name for a chance to an exhibition match."

Andrew smiled. "That's interesting." He then thought… _'I wonder if my mom will come as well.'_

* * *

Next day, at the mid-morning, a ship was making its way through the ocean, heading towards Academy Island with a load of passengers on board. All of them was in fact women. One of them was Marie Wilson, Andrew's mom.

"It'll be nice to see Andrew again." She said to herself. She turned to walk to another part to the ship, but ended up bumping into someone. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry, it's fine." The woman in front of Marie assured her. The woman was slim and had sapphire blue eyes and her long light-blue hair dropped down loosely. She was wearing a white bluish t-shirt and and a pair of blue jeans. "So, you're going to visit the academy?" She asked.

"That's right." Marie replied. "I have a son who's attending there, and it's kinda lonely when my only child is far away."

The woman nodded. "I understand that feeling. I only have one child as well, a daughter. Sometimes it's not easy for me when she's gone, especially after me and my ex-husband split apart."

Marie widened her eyes. "Oh my, that lonely? What made you and your husband spilt apart?"

The woman held an almost bitter expression on her face. "I'm afraid it's a touchy subject for me. I can only say that he's no longer the man I used to love."

"I see." Marie's eyes softened. "Sorry about that."

The woman gave an assuring smile. "Don't worry, it's fine. My name is Leila Siegrain by the way." She offered her a handshake.

"Marie Wilson." She accepted it.

The woman now named Leila raised an eyebrow. "Wilson, you say?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, my daughter told me…" Leila was interrupted by a voice coming from the loudspeakers.

 **"Attention all passengers. We're approaching Duel Academy and will be docking in 15 minutes. Please be sure to secure your belongings, and we hope you had a pleasant trip."**

The two women looked to see the Academy Island from a far distance.

"Almost there." Leila said.

"Yeah." Marie the turned to her new acquaintance. "So what were you going to say?"

"Oh, right. You see…"

* * *

Later on, many students were at the pier and waited for the ship to arrive. Among those students were Jaden, Andrew, Syrus, Chumley and Jenny.

"It's gonna be sweet to see mom." Jaden said.

"Well, my mom won't come. She told me when she called." Syrus said.

"Same here." Chumley added.

"That's a shame." Jenny said.

"But that won't stop us from having fun, right?" Andrew asked.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Eventually, the ship arrived at the pier, and the passengers walked down the boat ramp. They could see many different moms greeting their children, giving hugs, etc. One of them approached the group, eyeing at Jaden. She had brown hair trailing down to her shoulders and eyes of the same color. She wore a light blue business like suit and a pair of black high heels. "Hello Jaden." She spoke in a soft voice.

"Hey mom." He greeted back as he gave her a hug. "Good to see you."

"It's good to see you too."

Everyone smiled at this.

"Isn't that sweet?" Another voice said. They all turned to see a woman with dark blue hair that reached her shoulders and green eyes. She was wearing an indigo colored sweater and a white skirt. And she was someone Andrew recognized.

"Mom." He said as he gave her a hug.

"How've you been doing, Andrew?" Marie asked.

"I'm fine."

"So this is your son." Another voice spoke up.

Andrew turned to his left to see another woman standing there. She was wearing a white bluish t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. But what got Andrew's attention was her light-blue hair and sapphire blue eyes, which reminded him of a certain someone.

"Hey mom." Jenny greeted happily.

"Jenny, nice to see you." Leila said as she gave her daughter a hug as well.

"That's your mom, Jenny?" Andrew asked.

"That's right. Her name's Leila. Mom, this is Andrew."

"Pleasure to meet you." Andrew greeted.

"Likewise. Jenny told me so much about you." Leila said. "Your mother told me a few things as well."

That made him give his mom a surprise look. "You know each other?"

Marie giggled. "Well, she and I made acquaintance on the way here. By the way, you never said that your friend Jenny was _this_ pretty." She said the last part with a teasing smile.

"Huh?" Andrew's face turned slightly red.

"I hope you haven't done something funny to Jenny." Leila added, with an equally teasing smile. "Because it would be bad if you two rush things."

That made poor Jenny blush in embarrassment. "Mom! It's not what you think!"

"Is that so? Then why are you two so red?" Marie asked, causing both to blush even more.

"I told you many times we are just friends!" Andrew exclaimed.

Both mothers giggled.

"Well that's just cute." Leila commented.

"MOOOM!"

Everyone watched as Andrew and Jenny got embarrassed by their moms. "Well, guess some moms can be embarrassing." Jaden commented.

"I guess so." His mom replied before approaching them. "Anyway, I hope we get along. My name is Eileen."

"Pleasure to meet you." Both Marie and Leila shook hands with her.

"Now, according to the invitation, we were supposed to head to the main arena for the announcement." Jaden's mom said.

"Then you can just let us take you there." Andrew suggested.

They all nodded as the moms followed the students.

* * *

And so, the group walked through the hallway with the students leading their moms to the main dueling arena. Once they arrived, the moms were quite amazed by its size and all stands around it. They walked up to take their seats. Once all people settled down, Chancellor Sheppard stepped up on the platform and spoke into a microphone.

"Welcome everyone. For those of you guests who don't know, I'm Chancellor Sheppard. Headmaster of the prestigious Duel Academy. From starters I would like to say welcome to our school. I'm sure that the mothers are happy for the chance to spend the day with their children. Well, that's what Duel Academy Mother's Day is all about. To begin with, all guests, along with their children will split up into groups so one faculty member or a volunteering student can give them a tour around campus. After that, we will serve lunch for you in a restaurant that is set up in the gym. And at end of the day, two of ours students will be chosen to have an exhibition match for those who want to watch. And that's all for now. Good day."

Everyone applauded the Chancellor. A few minutes later, many of the students along their moms looked around for someone who would give them a tour, while others already found someone, wether they were faculty members or students who volunteered for this. As for Andrew and the others, they haven't found someone yet.

"There are so many to choose." Syrus said.

"Who should we pick?" Jenny wondered.

"Anyone but Dr. Crowler." Jaden said, making his friends laugh a little.

"Is this Dr. Crowler some bad teacher?" Marie asked.

"You have no idea." Andrew replied.

"Someone looking for a guide?" A voice spoke up. Everyone turned to see a familiar, purple-haired Obelisk boy. "If so, then I'm your man." He said while smirking.

"Hey Michael." Jaden greeted.

"So you're one of the guides here?" Andrew asked.

"Got that right."

The moms were quite surprised by this.

"For real?" Eileen asked.

"I actually expected at least second year students helping with the tour." Leila said.

Michael shrugged. "Well, Sheppard _did_ say that students could volunteer. He never necessarily said that only third or second year students could."

"But, are you sure you can do that?" Marie asked.

"I wouldn't worry about my son if I were you." A woman spoke up from behind Michael. They turned to see that she was slim and had black hair held together in a bun on the back of her head, and grey eyes. She was wearing a pair of glasses and a business suit that looked similar to Jaden's mom, except it was black. "He is pretty good with responsibilities." She said with a smile.

"Oh, hello there." Leila greeted.

"So you're Michael's mom?" Jaden asked.

"That's right." She replied as she picked up what looked like a business card from her pocket and handed it to Leila. "Here's my card. Mira Kageyama, attorney at law."

"A lawyer? Oh my." She said.

"That's right. So if any of you guys would end up in a court, then my mom is the best lawyer you can ask for." Michael said proudly, making his mom smile at him.

"That's impressive." Jenny admitted.

"And you must be Michael's friends." Mira eyed at the five students, staring with the Slifer trio. "You three must be Jaden, Syrus and Chumley, right?"

"Yup, nice to meet you." Jaden replied as his roommates nodded.

Mira then turned to the fairy duelist. "And I believe you are Jenny."

"Yeah, it's a pleasure to meet you." She said as she bowed politely.

"And you must be Andrew." Mira said, turning to him. "Michael told me you're an excellent duelist."

"Thanks. Your son is a tough player as well. Beating him after he used his virus combo wasn't an easy task." Andrew admitted.

Mira smiled. "Yes, from what he told me, you played very well. Many opponents would face justice by his combo, but apparently, you had justice on your side…"

"Anyway," Michael spoke up. "How about we get this tour started?" Everyone nodded at his suggestion. "Then let's go.

* * *

This was the first stop...

"If you look ahead, you can see the Slifer Red dorm." Michael explained.

The four moms were a little surprised by its cheap appearance.

"My goodness. Is that really a dorm?" Marie asked.

"It looks like an outhouse to me." Leila said.

"I don't believe that living in a place like that would be comfortable." Mira added.

"And you actually live here, Jaden." Eileen asked her son.

"I sure do. Sure, there are a bunch of cockroaches, small spaces in the dorm rooms, but it's the best dorm of campus." The EH duelist said with a wide smile.

Eileen couldn't help but chuckle at her son's attitude. "At least you're doing fine here."

"What's up?" Someone greeted. They all turned to see the flip duelist Matt approach them along with a woman who they assumed was his mother. She had the same light-purple hair as Matt and grey eyes. She was wearing a pair of glasses and a white dress. She was a little broader than the other moms. But only a little.

"Hey Matt." Andrew greeted. "I believe that's your mom?"

"Got that right. Mom, these are my friends, Andrew, Jenny, Jaden, Syrus and Chumley. Everyone, this is my mom Julianne."

"It's nice to meet you all." Julianne greeted cheerfully.

"Nice to meet you." They all greeted back.

"I was so glad when I heard Matt made some friends here. Most people would bully him, mostly because of his size."

"Come one, mom." Matt complained.

"It's alright, Matt." Syrus said. "If anything, I'm smaller than you, so I've been picked more than you."

"Not that it matters." Jaden stepped in. "We Slifers are sticking together and faces any obstacle. So I say let them have it!"

Everyone laughed a little. After that, they all chatted a little while looking around until the group decided to move on.

* * *

The next stop was the Ra Yellow dorm. And when they arrived there, Andrew was the one who took the lead, simply because he's a Ra student. They looked around, and their moms were quite amazed by this place. They then came to Andrew's room.

"And this is where I sleep." He said.

They looked around and thought the room looked nice.

"Well, this is very comfy." Leila commented.

"Indeed." Marie agreed as she turned towards her son. "It's good to see you're living in a nice dorm."

"And I'm glad I managed to promote to this dorm." Andrew said.

"No joke." Jaden said. "You should have seen his promotion duel. This guy named Norman packed quite the punch with his fiend monsters. But Andrew made a sweet comeback with his heroes. It was like, wham!" He said enthusiastically, making everyone laugh.

"Well, how about we take a look at the Obelisk dorms?"

"Dorms?" Mira asked her son. "Don't you mean dorm?"

Jenny spoke up. "I guess you didn't know, but there are two separate Obelisk dorms. One for the boys, and one for the girls."

"I actually wondered why all the girls have Obelisk blue uniforms and not uniforms from the other dorms." Leila admitted.

"Well, why there is only one girl dorm, I have no idea." Michael shrugged. "But how about we move on?"

Everyone nodded as they left the dorm. But as soon as they came out, they were met by a certain ritual duelist.

"Oh, hey Shiori." Andrew greeted.

"Hey Andrew. How's it going?"

"I'm doing fine."

"So this is your friend Andrew?" A slim woman spoke up from behind. She had light-blonde hair, like Shiori, and brown eyes. She was wearing an orange shirt and a pair of jeans.

"Oh, is that your mom, Shiori?" Andrew asked.

"That's right." He replied.

"It's nice to meet you. My name is Sara." She greeted with a smile as she shook hands with Andrew. "My son told me a lot about you. He said you're a great duelist and a good friend."

"You don't say." Andrew replied as he smiled at his friend.

"And it's nice to meet to you all as well."

"Thank you." They replied.

Shiori's mom chatted with the others for a few minutes before they headed to their next destination.

* * *

Later on, the group arrived at two separate paths, each one of them leading to one of the Obelisk dorms.

"Okay," Michael spoke up. "The right path leads to the Obelisk boy dorm. The left one leads to the Obelisk girl dorm."

"So what do we do?" Syrus asked. "We can't just leave Jenny and her mom alone, can we?"

"No way." Jaden said. "We shouldn't leave anyone from our group alone."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Andrew then noticed another group of students and moms coming from the path leading to the girls' dorm. He also noticed Miss Fontaine leading them. They then stopped as she turned toward them. "All right, everyone. That should be enough. I hope you liked the tour in the dorm." She said cheerfully.

Andrew's group noticed that among those people was Alexis and a woman they assumed was mer mom. She was wearing a white sweater and a grey skirt. She had short hair with the same blonde color as Alexis and the same eye color. She almost looked like an elder version of Alexis. The Obelisk girl noticed Andrew's group and walked up to them. "Hey guys."

"Hey Alexis." Jenny greeted. "How's the tour going?"

"Well, so far so good. And my mom is enjoying this quite well." The woman in question joined them.

"Hello there, you must be Alexis' friends." She addressed Andrew and the others with a gentle tone in her voice. "My name is Lisa."

"Pleasure to meet you." They greeted back.

Leila approached her. "Lisa, it's been a while." She said smiling.

"Good to see you, Leila." Lisa greeted back.

"So they know each other?" Jaden mused.

Andrew shrugged. "I'm not really surprised. Alexis _did_ tell us that she and Jenny were friends since they were kids."

"Oh, right."

Ms. Fontaine chose that moment to greet them. "Hi there. Are you here to visit the dorms?"

Andrew nodded. "Yeah. However, out of all of us, only one pair can head to the girls' dorm." He said, indicating Jenny and her mom.

Ms. Fontaine nodded. "Don't worry, Chancellor Sheppard came up with a conclusion for that problem. As the headmistress of the Obelisk girl dorm, I'll be the one who will give all girls and their moms a tour around there, unless they're being led by any other girl. As for the boys and their moms, they will be guided by whoever is guiding them to the boys' dorm, as long as they're men."

"Then I guess we'll split up for a while." Jenny said as she and Leila walked up to her. They then turned to the others. "We'll see you guys later."

"Yeah, see ya." Andrew said as Jenny and Leila followed Ms. Fontaine, while Alexis and her mom walked away with their group.

"Then let's go." Michael declared as he led the others to the boys' dorm. As they arrived, everyone, especially the moms, were quite awestruck by the building. It kinda looked like a castle you would find in a fantasy story, with blue-colored roof. "Pretty good sight, isn't it?" Michael asked. "Now let's go inside." They all entered the building and were even more amazed by the building's inside. The hall was very big and looked fancy, like it was as if you were inside one of the world's most expensive hotels. Everyone followed Michael up the staircase that led to the second floor and went through a hallway.

Dr. Crowler, who was leading another group happened to pass by, and grimaced when he noticed Jaden and the others. _'Just my luck. Jaden wandering around in my dorm. If it wasn't for the program of this day, I would have kicked him out of here right now.'_

On the way, Jaden couldn't help but say… "Wow. I must say you Obelisks got a sweet dorm."

"Thank you. If it wasn't for those students who have an elitist attitude, this place could probably have been perfect." Michael admitted, a tiny bitterness in his voice.

"Oh yeah. You told me many of the Obelisks treated other students badly because of their ranks." Marie said, turning to Andrew.

"That's right." He sighed. "I just hate it that many of them are acting so mighty and arrogantly, all because they're on the highest rank."

"No kidding." Michael agreed. "I mean, just because you're on the highest rank, doesn't mean you're unbeatable. Andrew proved it when he beat me. Jaden proved it when he beat Chazz. Ranks doesn't matter much. What matters is your hard work, skills and determination. That's all there is to it for a duelist."

The guys nodded while smiling, while the mothers were amazed by Michael's speech, especially his own mother. Eventually, they stopped as Michael opened one of the doors of the hallway.

"And here is my room." He said as everyone went inside. The room was very gorgeous. It had large picture windows on one side, allowing a calming flood of natural light enter the room. They noticed a chandelier dangling from the ceiling. On another side of the room was a king sized bed, and drawers that would have room for all Michael's clothes... and more. On the opposite side was a big plasma TV with a fancy blue coach facing it. On the same side as the entrance of this room was another door, leading to a bathroom. Saying the group was surprised by this luxury would be an understatement.

"My goodness, Michael!" Mira said astonished. "I know how you described your dorm room, but just seeing it in person, it's just… wow!"

"I must say, I'm pretty jealous right now." Andrew admitted.

"Same here." Jaden added.

"Totally Lishus." Chumley said.

"Aw man." Syrus said.

"I know, right? I almost never get bored by living like this." Michael said.. "Of course, I won't let luxury making me cocky for my accomplishments."

"Still though, this is pretty amazing." Marie said. "You think you would like to become an Obelisk Blue?" She asked Andrew.

He smiled sheepishly. "If so, then I'm going to need higher grades than the ones I've earned so far."

"I'm sure you can if you put your heart into it." Michael said, giving him a thumbs up. "Let's move on, shall we?"

* * *

And so, they left the dorm and met up with Jenny and her mom. On their way to the academy building, they listened to Leila who told them about how amazing the girls' dorm was and that she could hardly believe that Jenny lived there. Once inside the building, Michael showed them the many classrooms in there. Eventually, they came to the card shop, where many other students along with their moms looked around.

"And this is where anyone could buy some new cards." Michael explained. "And during the Sandwich Day, which takes place once in a week, anyone can try to get the famous eggwich."

"Oh yeah. It's good that everyone gets a chance to get it." Jaden said. "Especially after Damon stopped stealing them."

"Who?" Eileen asked.

"He's an Obelisk Blue, just like me and Michael." Jenny explained. "He's a duelist who always got bad draw, wether it was in a duel or Sandwich Day. So he tried to become a better drawer by simply being tune to nature."

Andrew then sweatdropped as he turned to the moms. "And by that, she means training out in the nature until he became like Tarzan."

The moms blinked at that statement.

"Oh my, really?" Leila asked.

"Tarzan? Are you serious?" Marie asked.

"Well, that's a first." Mira added. "Well, as long as he realize his mistakes, then there's no harm."

"He sure did." Jaden replied.

"Welcome, everybody." Appearing in front of the group was none other than Ms. Dorothy.

"Well, thank you." Mira responded with a smile. "And you are?"

Michael decided to make introduce them for Dorothy. "This friendly lady here is Ms. Dorothy. She is the owner of the card shop."

"A pleasure to meet you all." She said while bowing to them.

"Thank you." They said.

At that they all had a conversation about the things that happened here. Ms. Dorothy told them about the time she had trouble with her van and Jaden and Andrew helped her with it. Of course, their moms praised them for being so gentlemanly. After that they got a detailed story about the eggwich thief, which included the part when Andrew, Jenny and Shiori had to deal with the card thief. Marie and Leila were simply shocked by this. Mira made a comment saying he should have been locked up for stealing, making Michael shake his head. After a while, they said their goodbyes to Ms. Dorothy and left.

* * *

Now it was lunchtime, and everything was nicely set up in the gym. There were tables standing around the area with with comfy chairs. Everyone was sitting their and were served by some faculty members acting as waiters/waitresses. The food was quite fancy, made by some of the chefs from the Ra Yellow dorm and a few from the Obelisk dorm. Andrew's group was sitting around one of the tables and enjoyed the meal peacefully. Well, as peacefully as they can as Jaden was stuffing his mouth like crazy.

"Jaden, don't eat so fast." Eileen scolded.

"What? I can't help how delicious this is."

"I almost forgot how Jaden is when it comes to food." Andrew commented as he sweatdropped at his friend's manner.

"Seriously, he is almost like a bottomless hole or something." Michael added.

"And I always thought my husband had a big appetite." Mira commented as she enjoyed what looked like a steak.

"Well, Jaden is always ready for seconds, or even thirds." Syrus stated.

Chumley nodded while chewing on grilled cheese. What a surprise.

"So, how are the teachers treating you?" Marie asked Andrew. "Are they friendly?"

He nodded. "Yeah, they're all very nice." He then heard a coughing sound from Jaden. "Well, except for Dr. Crowler."

"And what's the problem with this Dr. Crowler?" Leila asked.

"He's the headmaster of the Obelisk Blue and always treat them with favoritism. He's always looking down on the lower ranks. Especially the Slifers." Jenny explained.

"That's just awful." Leila frowned.

"No kidding." Jaden replied after swallowing his food. "Not to mention he was always trying to get rid me, and all just because I beat him in a single duel."

"He was?" Eileen asked.

"He sure did." Andrew replied. "There was one time when someone dueled against the Obelisks during midnight, making them play with ante. In other words, they put up their best card and handed it over when they lost. That is against the school rules by the way. So Crowler requested Jaden to take down this person and turn him in. But that was just to give Crowler evidence to kick him out of here. Fortunately, we were able to solve this problem without getting Jaden expelled."

"My goodness." Andrew's mom said.

Michael's mom scowled. "That's just outrageous. A man like him shouldn't be allowed on this school."

"Relax, mom." Michael said. "It doesn't matter what Crowler do to get Jaden expelled, he always get what he deserves when he fails."

"And the humiliation he gets for his failures are pretty much enough punishment he'll get." Andrew cracked.

Everyone couldn't help but laugh."

* * *

Later on, after the lunch was over, the students, along with the visitors, were all gathered in the main duel arena. Andrew and his friends were sitting together in one row of seats, while the moms are sitting behind them. Shiori, Matt, Alexis and their moms joined the group.

"So uh... why are we here again?" Chumley asked.

"For the exhibition match, remember?" Syrus reminded him.

"Oh yeah. They're supposed to randomly pick two candidates for a duel." Shiori said.

"Well I hope I get to duel. This is super sweet!" Jaden said excited, to his mom's amusement.

"I don't think we have to wait any longer." Matt commented as he noticed Chancellor Sheppard stepping up on the dueling platform and spoke into his microphone.

"Could I have everyone's attention please." He spoke up. "We're about to reach the end of the day, and from what I've heard, everyone had a very great day today. And I'm glad that's the case. And before we let this day reach the end, it is now time for the final part of our program: the exhibition match. We had many students to submit their names, so we will now choose two random students to let them duel each other right here, right now. Ms. Dorothy, if you would." Dorothy came up to the stage, holding a bowl with a bunch of paper slips for SHeppard to pull out two of them at random. "The first duelist is... Andrew Wilson."

His friends cheered for him being picked.

"And the second one is... Jenny Siegrain."

The girl in question was surprised. "Whoa, really?"

"That's great, Jenny." Leila praised her.

"It's been a while since we dueled each other." Andrew said.

Jenny then smirked. "It sure is. But it won't end the same way as the last time."

Andrew smirked as well, confidently. "We'll see."

"Duelists, will you please come down here and get ready?"

"Good luck guys." Michael encouraged them.

"Show everyone what you got." Jaden added.

The two duelists nodded as they made their way to the stage. Once they were down there, they shuffled each others deck.

"How do you think this day has been?" Jenny asked.

"It's been very fun for me." Andrew replied. But he then formed an embarrassed look on his face. "Well, except for mom's stupid question about us."

Jenny sighed. "I know. That's just embarrassing." She then smiled. "Still though, it's always nice to be with someone from your family once for a while."

Andrew smiled and nodded. "That's true." The two them returned their cards, then stepped away from each other, standing on opposite ends of the platform, strapping on their duel disks and inserting their decks.

"Duelists... you may begin!" Sheppard declared, removing himself from the stage.

"DUEL!"

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Jenny: 4000**

"I'll go first." Jenny drew her sixth card. "I place a facedown monster in defense mode, and another card facedown." Two cards appeared in front of her. "That ends my turn."

"My move then." Andrew declared, looking over his hand for a moment before he made his move. "I summon Elemental HERO Heat in attack mode." The white and red armored fire hero appeared from a fire pillar. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "As you know, he gains 200 attack points for every Elemental HERO on my field." ( **ATK: 1600-1800** ) "Now attack her facedown monster with Burning Fist!" The here ignited his right fist and dashed forward, and punched the facedown monster, which turned out to be a marshmallow-like blob with with two cute eyes and a mouth. Only, its face was upside down. (ATK: 300 **DEF: 500** LV: 3) Andrew widened his eyes after seeing what he just attacked. "Oops."

Jenny smiled. "Oops is right. Because you attacked Marshmallon. Since your attack caused it to flip up, you take 1000 points of damage." The marshmallow blob glowed brightly, and then, Andrew winced as he was surrounded by a red aura.

 **Andrew: 4000-3000**

"And as a bonus, my Marshmallon can't be destroyed in battle." After Andrew's monster moved away, the marshmallow blob blew a raspberry.

Despite his mistake, Andrew smiled. "Not bad, Jenny. I place one card facedown and end my turn." A facedown card appeared at his feet.

"Well, looks like Jenny took the lead." Leila noted.

"Yeah, but my son doesn't give up that easily." Marie replied.

"That's true." Jaden added. "Last time they dueled each other, Andrew always kept fighting, no matter how much life points Jenny had in advantage."

"And there's no doubt he will do the same here." Shiori said.

"Here goes." Jenny looked at the card she drew and smiled. "First I activate the spell card Marshmallon Glasses." A spell card appeared behind her monster. "As long as I have Marshmallon on the field, you can't attack my other monsters."

"Uh oh. Which means Andrew can't do so much until he get rid of either the spell card or the monster." Michael said.

"Especially since Marshmallon can't be destroyed." Mira added.

"And now I summon Barrier Statue of the Heavens." The monster that appeared next to Marshmallon was a floating, golden statue of a goddess on a pedestal. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1000 LV: 4)

"A barrier statue, huh?" Matt mused.

"You know anything about it?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah. Including the one Jenny just summoned, there are six kinds of monsters that are known as the Barrier Statues. And each one of them has a special summon-limit ability."

"Summon-limit?" Chumley repeated.

"What do you mean by that?" Jaden asked.

On que, Jenny spoke up. "Now, as long as this monster remains on the field, only light monsters can be special summoned."

Andrew gasped. "No way!"

"So Andrew can't special summon monsters, unless their attribute is light." Matt's mom realized.

"And his deck his full of elemental heroes. Creatures with different attributes, not just light." Michael said.

"Which means he won't be able to special summon the monsters he might need to win this duel." Mira concluded.

"Oh my." Marie said.

"And to end my turn, I play another card facedown." Jenny concluded.

"My turn." Andrew declared as he drew his next card.

"I play my trap." Jenny interrupted as one of her facedown cards revealed itself. "Synthetic Seraphim."

"What does that do?"

Jenny wagged one finger. "If I told you, that would spoil the surprise."

Andrew was wary of that and looked at the card he drew and saw that it was a certain wind based hero. _'Stratos. He's just the card I need. As soon as I summon him, I can destroy Jenny's Marshmallon Glasses. With any luck, that Seraphim card is not something that will_ _interfere with my strategy.'_ "I summon Elemental HERO Stratos." The turbine winged hero joined his fire based comrade." ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 300 LV: 4) "And now when he's summoned, I can activate his special ability. Say goodbye to one of your spell or trap cards."

But before Stratos did anything, Andrew heard Jenny giggling. "Come on, Andrew. Did you really think I would make this easy for you?"

It was then Andrew realized what she meant. "You knew I was going to summon Stratos!"

"That's right. And since you activated his ability, I can activate my other trap." Her facedown card flipped up. "It's called Pulling the Rug. With this I can negate the activation and effect of an effect monster whose effect activated when a monster was normal summoned (even itself), and also destroy it." Andrew could only watch as his hero monster disappeared.

"Whoa! She stopped Andrew's monster from destroying one of her cards." Syrus noted.

"If it wasn't for that trap card, Andrew could have got rid of those glasses." Chumley added.

"What did you expect. Jenny is pretty good when it comes to counter strategies." Alexis said.

Andrew then noticed that Jenny's first trap started to glow. And then, something suddenly came out of it. It was an odd-looking robot with huge forearms. It was white and blue. ( **ATK: 300** DEF: 300 LV: 1) "What is that?" He asked with an almost shocked tone.

"This is the effect of my trap card, Synthetic Seraphim. Every time a counter trap is activated, it automatically creates a Synthetic Seraphim Token."

"That's new." Andrew commented as he inserted a card. "I end my turn with a facedown."

"Then here goes." Jenny drew a card. "And now it's time for this. I place one card facedown." A facedown card appeared. "And now I sacrifice my token in order to summon Tethys, Goddess of Light." The robot disappeared and was replaced by the beautiful, winged woman dressed in white. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 1800 LV: 5)

"Tethys. Isn't that the same card she used against James?" Syrus asked.

"It sure is." Jaden replied.

"James who?" Eileen asked.

"Just some guy from Obelisk Blue who likes to play practical jokes."

"But he did take things too far on April Fools' Day." Shiori said.

"What did he do?" Sara asked.

"I'll tell you later."

Andrew stared at Jenny's monster. _'Tethys, huh? Last I saw her, Phantom Magician found out that she was a duel spirit. Jenny didn't seem to notice though. I wonder if she knows anything yet.'_

"Now Tethys, attack his Heat with Heavenly Burst!" The Goddess held up her hands in of her and fired a beam of light energy at the fire hero, tearing him into pieces.

 **Andrew: 3000-2400**

"I activate my trap card, Hero Signal." One of Andrew's facedown cards flipped up. "Now I can summon an Elemental HERO from my hand or deck, as long as it's level 4 or less."

"That's good, but my Barrier Statue keeps you from special summon monsters that aren't light monsters." Jenny reminded him.

"Then I'll summon Elemental HERO Voltic in defense mode." The purple and golden armored hero appeared and kneeled down in front of Andrew. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1500** LV: 4)

"I end my turn." Jenny concluded.

"I draw." Andrew announced. He looked at the card he drew and smiled. "Maybe I can't attack, but I can use this to build a good defense. I activate the spell card Mask Change. Now I can sacrifice HERO monster and summon a Masked HERO with the same attribute. So I'll sacrifice Voltic and summon this…" The electric hero glowed brightly. "Masked HERO Koga!" The light died down, and in Voltic's place stood the familiar golden armored hero with the blades attached to his arms. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 1800 LV: 8)

"Koga. I haven't seen him since you dueled Panik." Jenny said, staring at him with awe.

"That's true, and you won't get through him so easily. Especially since he gains 500 attack points for every monster on your side of the field. And I count 3." The golden armored hero glowed for a moment. ( **ATK: 2500-4000** )

"My goodness." Leila gasped. "That's a lot of points."

"And that's not all." Michael said with a smirk. "That monster has the power to weaken any monster on the field."

"Which means Andrew is safe." Shiori added.

"For now, maybe." Alexis said. "But I wouldn't count out Jenny just yet."

"I end my turn." Andrew concluded.

"Before that, I activate my trap card, Solemn Wishes." Jenny's facedown card flipped. "Now I gain 500 life points whenever I draw cards from my deck." She drew her next card.

 **Jenny: 4000-4500**

"And now I activate Tethys' ability. If I draw a fairy type monster from my deck, I can draw another card. And I can keep drawing as long draw more fairy type monsters. The first one I drew is Zeradias, Herald of Heaven." She drew another card.

 **Jenny: 4500-5000**

"Airknight Parshath." Then she drew another card.

 **Jenny: 5000-5500**

"Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin." And another card.

 **Jenny: 5500-6000**

"And that's all I'll get so far. Now I discard Zeradias and use his ability to add The Sanctuary in The Sky to my hand." She slid her monster card into the graveyard slot and took the field spell from her deck. "And now, time for a change of scenery." She inserted the spell card, and both players found themselves at the familiar stone palace in he clouds. "As you know, I don't take battle damage when any of my fairy type monsters is in battle. I place a card facedown and end my turn." She concluded as she inserted another card.

"Let's see." Andrew drew a card and looked over his. _'It's possible that she might bring out her Neo-Parshath on her next turn._ _And even if I use Koga's ability to_ _weaken it, it won't be enough. I guess I have to play safe.'_ "I place one card facedown." A card appeared at his feet. "Then I activate the spell card Swords of Revealing Light." Jenny's monsters were now surrounded by swords of light. "Now You can't attack for three turns."

"Not exactly." Jenny said with smirk. And then, here facedown card revealed itself. "I activate the trap card Divine Punishment. With my field spell in play, I can negate your card's effect." The swords were absorbed by the palace.

"Déjà vu." Andrew commented.

"And Divine Punishment is a counter trap, so you know what happens next." Jenny's continuous trap glowed and created another Synthetic Seraphim Token. ( **ATK: 300** DEF: 300 LV: 1)

"Nice move, Jenny." Andrew praised. "You're really amazing."

Jenny couldn't help but blush. "Thanks. But don't think I plan to make it easier for you."

"I know. Anyway, with another monster on your field, Koga gets stronger." ( **ATK: 4000-4500** ) "I end my turn."

"Well then…"

 **Jenny: 6000-6500**

She looked at her new card, and it was a monster with 2700 attack points. "I drew Master Hyperion, a fairy type monster. So I draw again."

 **Jenny: 6500-7000**

"And now I sacrifice my token and summon Airkinght Parshath." The token disappeared and was replaced by the centaur fairy. ( **ATK: 1900** DEF: 1400 LV: 5)

"Uh oh. With that monster on the field…" Syrus said.

"Jenny is going to bring out the big gun." Jaden filled in.

"And now I sacrifice Airknight Parshath in order to summon Neo-Parshath, the Sky Paladin!" The centaur transformed into its advanced form, with shield and sword in hand. ( **ATK: 2300** DEF: 2000 LV: 7)

"Well, I can't say I found it easy to deal with him last time we dueled." Andrew stated.

Jenny smiled. "Well, when it comes to his special ability, I can't blame you. With The Sanctuary in the Sky on the field, and my life points higher than yours, his attack and defense points are increased by the difference." The majestic fairy illuminated with glowing light. ( **ATK: 2300-6900** DEF: 2000-6600)

The crowd gasped at the power boost.

"Oh my god!" Marie exclaimed.

"That's my girl." Leila said proudly.

"Damn, her monster is so strong." Shiori said.

"You should have seen their last duel." Syrus replied. "She was able to increase its attack to over 10000."

"And it wasn't easy to beat a monster like that." Matt added.

"And now I attack. Neo-Parshath, destroy his Masked hero with Celestial Judgement Blade!" The fairy raised its sword and swung it downward, creating a large arc of energy which went straight toward Andrew's monster.

"I activate Koga's ability! By removing a HERO monster from my graveyard and play, I can drain a monster's attack points equal to that hero's attack points. So I'll remove Heat to weaken your Tethys."

"Huh?" Jenny was surprised as the spirit of Heat appeared from Koga's armor and tackled the Goddess, draining her power. ( **ATK: 2400-800** ) " I don't get it. Why did you weaken her instead of Neo-Parshath?

"Because for him, I have this trap card." One of Andrew's facedown cards flipped up. "It's called Desperate Tag. If a monster I have in attack mode is destroyed in battle, I can reduce the battle damage from this battle to zero." Koga was struck by the arc of energy and destroyed. "After that, I'm allowed to summon a level 4 or lower warrior type monster from my hand. And I choose Elemental HERO Sparkman." The blue and golden armored hero appeared in front of him. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1400 LV: 4)

"I see." Lisa said. "He couldn't stop the Sky Paladin, so he used a combo to keep the other monsters from attacking."

"Your son is a clever one." Leila complimented.

"Thank you." Marie said with a proud smile.

"Okay, I'll just end my turn by activating the spell card Spell Absorption." Jenny concluded as the continuos spell card appeared. ( **ATK: 800-2400** )

"I draw. And I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards."

"Okay, but I gain 500 life points from Spell Absorption since a spell card was activated."

 **Jenny: 7000-7500** ( **ATK: 6900-7400** DEF: 6600-7100)

Andrew drew his two cards and smiled at what he got. "Perfect."

Jenny widened her eyes.

"First I play the spell card Mask Charge.

 **Jenny: 7500-8000** ( **ATK: 7400-7900** DEF: 7100-7600)

"This lets me take two cards back from my graveyard. A Change card and a HERO monster." Two familiar cards came out of his graveyard slot.

"No way!"

"That's right. I brought back my Stratos and I'll summon him to the field." The turbine winged hero appeared again. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 300 LV: 4) "Now, let's try this again. Stratos, use your ability and destroy her Marshmallon Glasses!" The hero created a cyclone and blew away Jenny's spell card.

"Ugh... my spell card." Jenny groaned as she held up an arm for protection.

"Yup, it's gone, so your Marshmallon can't protect your monsters anymore. And now for my next move, I activate the spell card Enemy Controller." The familiar video game controller appeared. "I can use one of its two abilities, and I choose its second ability: first I must sacrifice a monster, like Sparkman." The electric hero disappeared and the cable of the controller attached itself to the Barrier Statue. "And then for one turn, I can take control of one of your monsters." The buttons of the controller were pressed in following order: right, B, right, A, left, down, left, A. The statue was then moved to Andrew's side of the field.

 **Jenny: 8000-8500** ( **ATK: 7900-8400** DEF: 7600-8100)

"What are you planning to do to my monster?"

"I'm going to to do this. Barrier Statue of Heavens, attack her Tethys!" The statue glowed and created a magic circle that fired an energy beam. But the angel held up a palm and absorbed the energy beam. Then, she sent it back to the statue and destroyed her. "Of course, the statue was a fairy type monster, so I won't lose any life points." Andrew then smirked. "But more importantly, I can now special monsters with any attribute I want. So I'll use my Mask Change and turn my Stratos into Masked HERO Divine Wind." The hero was enveloped by a pillar of light and then came out as the emerald green armored, white caped warrior. ( **ATK: 2700** DEF: 1900 LV: 8)

 **Jenny: 8500-9000** ( **ATK: 8400-8900** DEF: 8100-8600)

"And that doesn't stop there. Divine Wind, attack Tethys with Storming Justice!" The hero conjured a strong storm wind that surrounded the white winged angel.

Jenny then noticed that she glanced at her. And then… _'…Sorry.'_

"Huh?" Was all she let out before the angel was destroyed.

"Now, since my Divine Wind destroyed a monster in battle, I can draw a card from my deck." Andrew drew a card. "And next I play another spell card, Form Change."

"What!? You're gonna summon another Masked hero?" Jenny asked after she snapped out of her confusion from what happened to her Tethys earlier.

"That's right. So I'll return my Divine Wind to my fusion deck and summon someone you might remember." The wind hero disappeared and was replaced by a certain dark blue armored warrior with his gun in hand. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2100 LV: 8)

 **Jenny: 9000-9500** ( **ATK: 8900-9400** DEF: 8600-9100)

"Acid!"

"Yup. And as you know, this Masked HERO destroys all your spell and traps when he's summoned. And you know what that means, don't you?" The hero fired a stream of acid that rained down over Jenny's field. She could only watch as her spell and trap cards, including her field spell disappeared, making the heavenly area disappear.

"Sweet! Now Jenny can't boost her life points." Jaden pointed out.

"Not just that. Without her field spell, Neo-Parshath loses all his extra points." Michael added. ( **ATK: 9400-2300** DEF: 9100-2000)

"Great move, Andrew." Jenny praised. "You never cease to surprise me. But do you think you can bring down my life points."

Andrew smiled. "We're about to find out. Now then, since Acid successfully destroyed your spell and traps, your monsters loses 300 attack points. ( **ATK: 2300-2000** ) (ATK: 300-0) "Which means my Acid can destroy your Paladin. Attack!" The hero fired another stream of acid and destroyed the majestic fairy.

 **Jenny: 9500-8900**

"And with that, I end my turn with a facedown card." A facedown card appeared.

"Then here goes." Jenny drew a card and was pleased when she looked at it. "Well, it looks like I'm about summon a new powerhouse I've got."

Andrew blinked. "And what could that be?"

"I think you recognize him." She said as she revealed one of her cards: Master Hyperion.

"That one, huh? And how do you plan to summon such a strong monster if you don't have enough monsters to sacrifice."

Jenny wagged her finger. "I don't have to sacrifice anything. I can summon him if I have a certain kind of monster I can remove from play. A monster that has the words 'The Agent' in it's name. Like this one." She revealed the card she drew. It had the picture of a certain red angel.

"The Agent of Force!"

"That's right. So I'll remove him in order to summon Master Hyperion!" The red angel appeared on the field, but was instantly surrounded by flames. And out of it came a heavy armored fairy, with a stern look on his face. ( **ATK: 2700** DEF: 2100 LV: 8)

"Whoa! That monster doesn't look friendly." Andrew noted.

Jenny nodded. "And he can be even less friendly when he uses his special ability. By taking a light fairy type monster from my graveyard and remove it from play, I can destroy one card on the field."

"My goodness!" Marie gasped.

"That means she can destroy Andrew's monster and then attack him directly." Lisa said.

"And if Andrew can't stop her attack…" Alexis said.

"Then it's game over." Matt filled in.

"Then let's see what happens." Jaden said.

"I remove my Barrier Statue in order to destroy your Masked hero." The spirit of the statue appeared and gave the armored fairy some light energy, which he used to create and orb and threw it at Andrew's monster and destroy it. "And now to end this. Master Hyperion, attack!" The fairy created another orb of light and threw it.

"I activate the trap card, Call of the Haunted." His trap card revealed itself. "Now I can summon a monster from I graveyard. I'll bring back my Stratos." The turbine winged hero appeared once again. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 300 LV: 4) "And now I'll use his second ability and add Elemental HERO Woodsman from my deck to my hand." He held up the card he took.

"Then I'll destroy Stratos instead." The orb exploded and destroyed the hero.

"And once again, I'll Desperate Tag's effect. I summon Woodsman in defense mode." The wooden man kneeled down in front of him. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4)

"Okay, I'll end my turn."

Andrew drew a card. "Then I'll start by using Woodsman's ability which lets me take a Polymerization from my deck to my hand. And I'll use to fuse Woodsman and Ice Edge in order to summon Elemental HERO Gaia." Woodsman combined with the icy kid and appeared on the field in the form of the black armored giant. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF: 2600 LV: 6) "And now his ability activates. For one turn, he absorb half of your monster's attack strength." Gaia grabbed Mater Hyperion with one hand and absorbed his energy. ( **ATK: 2700-1350** ) ( **ATK: 2200-3550** ) "Now Gaia, destroy Master Hyperion!" THe hero let go of the fairy and smashed him with his other hand.

 **Jenny: 8900-6700**

"I end my turn."

"My draw." Jenny announced but the card she drew wasn't so much useful. "I pass."

"Okay then." Andrew drew a card. "I play a facedown monster in defense mode and end my turn." A card appeared next to the giant hero.

"Then here goes." Jenny drew her next card and it was a handy spell card. "This will do. I activate the spell, Dimension Fusion. First I must pay 2000 Life points…"

 **Jenny: 6700-4700**

"After that, we both get summon our monsters that are removed from the game."

"If that's the case, then I'll summon Heat in defense mode." The fire hero appeared. (ATK: 1600-1800 **DEF: 1200** LV: 4)

"And I'll bring back Barrier Statue of the Heavens." The angelic statue appeared. "(ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1000** LV: 4) "Then I'll equip her with the spell, Heart of Clear Water." The spell card appeared behind it. "Now, my monster can't be destroyed in battle or targeted by destruction effects. I end my turn."

"Looks like Andrew's back to square to one." Michael noted.

"Then he can't special summon any other monster." Chumley added.

"Don't be so sure."Jaden said with a smile. "Andrew did get through that statue once and he can do it again."

"Let's hope so." Marie said.

I draw." Andrew said and drew a card. He then smiled at Jenny. "I hope you're ready, because I'm about break through your defense."

Jenny widened her eyes. "But how?"

"By flipping up my facedown monster." The facedown card revealed a brown potted plant with a green bush at the tip. ( **ATK: 500** DEF: 500 LV: 3) "This is Fiber Jar and it has a flip effect. We must collect all cards from our hand, field and graveyard and shuffle them into our deck. Then we draw 5 new cards."

Jenny gasped.

"Whoa! That resets the entire field." Shiori said.

"It's a very nice flip effect. I should know." Matt commented.

All cards on the field disappeared. The two duelists then shuffled their cards into their deck and drew a new hand. Andrew was pleased at the cards he had. "And couldn have asked for better cards. First I summon Elemental HERO Lady heat." The white and red clade fire heroine appeared. ( **ATK: 1300** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "And then I activate the spell, HERO's Bond. Now I can summon two more heroes. And I choose Ocean and Heat." Lady Heat was joined by the aquatic hero and her counterpart. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And thanks to all heroes, Heat gets stronger." ( **ATK: 1600-2200** )

Jenny were silent for a moment, but then she smiled. "Looks like this the end."

"Yeah. But it was a great duel, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, and I couldn't have asked for a better opponent like you. You're someone I'm glad to know."

That made Andrew blush a little." T-thank you."

Jenny noticed his state and almost blush herself before she spoke up again. "Well, how about to end this?"

"Right. Heat, Lady Heat, Ocean, end this duel. attack her directly." All three heroes attacked her separately. Ocean stabbed her with his trident. Heat gave a fiery punch. And Lady Heat threw a fireball at her.

 **Jenny:** **4700-0000**

The whole crowd was silent for a moment befors before cheered loudly.

"Wow! Awesome!" Shiori cheered.

"Sweet!" Jaden exclaimed

"Way to play!" Syrus said.

"Well done, Andrew!" Marie said proudly.

Andrew walked up to Jenny. "Thanks for a great duel. I almost thought you had me there."

Jenny smiled. "Yeah, me too. But in the end, you managed to pull it off."

"Yeah, but it wasn't easy. Especially with that barrier statue you used. You really know how to counter your opponent."

Jenny giggled.

"A splendid performance." Sheppard spoke into the microphone. "Let's give these two a big hand, everyone!"

Andrew and Jenny waved to all people who applauded for their dueling.

* * *

And so, the visiting mothers were about get on board on a ship. Many of them said goodbye to their children. Including Andrew and the others.

"Take care, Matt. I'll miss you." Julianne said.

"I'll miss you too, mom." He said as he gave her a hug.

"It was great seeing you." Shiori said to hos mom, Sara.

"I'm glad to see you're doing well." She said while giving her son a hug as well.

"You better not slack with your studies, young man." Mira said with her right hand on Michael's left shoulder.

"Don't worry, I won't." He said while giving her a thumbs up, making her smile warmly.

Alexis gave her mom a smile, but her eyes had a small trace of sorrow. "Thanks for coming, mom. It's nice to be with you for once in while. Especially since... since..." She couldn't finish her sentence.

Lisa placed a hand on her shoulder to confort her. "I know. It's hard to believe that he just disappeared. I miss him too. But I believe he's out there somewhere. So don't give up, you'll find him."

Alexis nodded. "Yeah."

Jaden was hugging his mom. "It's been really good seeing you, mom."

"It's been really good seeing you too, Jaden." Eileen said before she pulled back. "Now I hope you'll study well."

That caused Jaden to grimace. "Don't worry, I will... I think." Eileen couldn't help but giggle at him.

Andrew and Jenny were hugging their moms right next to each other.

"Thanks for coming. It was so nice to see you." Andrew said.

"Same here, Andrew." Marie replied. "And good luck with the rest of the school year."

Andrew nodded with a smile.

"I'm glad to see you're having fun here." Leila said to her daughter.

"With the friends I have made here, it's always one fun day after another."

"Yes, I can tell." Leila then turned to Andrew. "And as for you."

"Hm?"

"I can tell that you're one of Jenny's closest friends. Keep an eye on her for me, will you?"

Andrew blinked before he smiled and nodded. "Sure. No problem."

Marie then gave him a teasing grin. "And let me know when you two start dating."

Of course, that caused him (and Jenny) to blush. "MOM!" Both mothers giggled at their reaction.

After a few minutes, the students watched their moms leave on the ship. Then waved at them as much as the could until then couldn't see them. And so, they all want went back to their dorms for the rest of the day.

* * *

 **And that's the end of the Mother's Day themed chapter. Just wanted to make tris before I continue with the episode based chapters. Until next time.**


	26. Chapter 26

**The Maiden and The Girly Knight**

The sun was going down, turning the color of the sky over the Academy Island to nice orange. And right now it was dinner time. In the Slifer red dorm, the students were enjoying their meal, until Professor Banner appeared and called out to get their attention.

"If I could please have everyone's attention? Eyes forward students! Chumley stop chewing with your mouth open!" The students stopped their eating and looked forward. "Good. Now please join me in welcoming two new transfer students, Blair Flannigan and Leon Mika." He stepped aside to let the two students show up. Both of them were short, more so than Syrus. They were wearing Slifer Red jackets and for some reason, matching caps. Blair had brown eyes and Leon had purple eyes, which were generally hidden because they mostly kept their heads down.

"I had to stop chewing for transfer students?" Chumley complained.

"Aw man. They're smaller than me, dresses goofier than me... my sidekick gig is up." Syrus sighed.

Jaden just smiled. "Be nice." He then stood up between his roommates "Blair, Leon, welcome to S-L-I-F-… something, Slfer!" He half-yelled, raising his arms to the ceiling.

Both of them looked at Jaden like he was crazy. That didn't stop him from approaching the new students. He even pulled Blair to him.

"We're the best dorm on campus! See, here we're not a bunch of stuffy, eggheaded, straight A getting brainiacs."

"Jaden wait. You don't understand." Banner told him.

"What's not to understand, Professor Banner? I'm just trying to…" Blair released himself from Jaden and stood timidly behind Banner. "...help them feel at home."

"H-hey. You didn't have to spook him." Leon said in a low voice.

"Besides, this isn't their home. At least not for long. They scored nearly perfect on all their entrance exams." Banner added.

"Oooh…"

"You see, it is academy policy that all transfer students start out at Slifer. But with their high marks, they'll be moved up to Ra Yellow within a few days."

Jaden laughed at this. "Yeah right. And next you'll be saying that they're gonna move into our dorm room cuz of all the extra space." he turned to his friends with a wide smile on his face. "I just love these guys!"

Syrus and Chumley stood up. "Good one."

"I agree." Banner said. "It's nice of you to offer them a place to stay, Jaden." The brown-haired Slifer _and_ his roommates fell in anime-style at that statement. "However, I do not believe you have enough room for both of them, so…" He then turned to a certain, purple-haired Slifer who was sitting at the table next to them. "...Matt."

"Yes?" He said.

"From what I've heard, you have two bed-bunks to spare in your room, right? Would you mind if Blair and Leon will be sharing your room?"

Matt thought for a moment before shrugging. "Well, that's okay. It's starting to get lonely in my room anyway."

"Good to hear. Now, Blair, Leon. Why don't you say hello to your fellow Slifers?"

"Hi." Leon said.

"Hello." Blair said in a low, soft voice.

* * *

The next day, all students from all three dorms in the main greeting hall for a special announcement. People were talking amongst themselves, until a certain someone appeared on the big monitor. And it was Chancellor Sheppard. **"Settle down people! Attention please! Chumley, stop chewing with your mouth open!"**

Andrew, who was standing among the other Ra students, blinked at the last part and turned towards the Slifer group. He noticed the koala duelist putting away his grilled cheese. _'Are you serious?'_ He thought disbelieved.

 **"Good."** Sheppard spoke. **"Now, the big matchup against our rival school, North Academy is coming up. Last year, Zane, our student rep whooped them good. And this year, I want to win the School Duel again."**

Syrus noticed Blair looking at Zane and leaned over. "Hey Blair, did you know Zane is my brother?" He whispered.

"Really?" Blair turned to him, surprised.

Leon, who was standing behind them was also surprised. "It must be amazing to having a brother who's a top duelist."

"Yeah, he's pretty cool, but mom says I got the looks." Syrus said casually.

 **"Now we still haven't decided on who is going to represent us this year. So if you keep hitting those books and dueling hard, you may be the one who gets the honor."** At those words, the monitor went blank with DA insignia planted on it.

"Alright!" Jaden exclaimed. "Did you hear what he said? It could be me in this match!"

"Hey, or me." Syrus huffed. "But we might as well face it, Jay. It'll probably be Zane who gets the spot again."

"How come?" Jaden asked as he turned towards Zane.

"Because he's amazing." Blair said and stared at Zane with... a lot of interest, confusing Jaden.

At the same time, Andrew was talking to Shiori.

"Hey, Shiori. Who do you think gets the spot?"

"Hard to tell. There are many skilled duelists here. It could be you, me, Jenny, Michael. Heck, even Matt could have a chance."

"Then let's hope for the best." Andrew said, making his friend nod.

Unbeknownst to them, Leon was staring at them from afar. More accurately, he was staring at Andrew. The one who noticed this was Matt who was standing right next to him.

 _'Hmm.'_

* * *

"Amazing? What's that got to do with it?" Jaden complained as he and his friends just left the academy building. "It should be about who's best!"

"Zane _did_ beat you in a duel, Jaden." Syrus reminded him.

"Yeah, but it was a totally close match." Chumley added.

"That's true." Syrus replied. "Huh?" They all then noticed a certain someone running across the pathway, leading away from the main building.

"Blair?" Jaden voiced. He had a look of suspicion on his face and ran after him.

"Uh Jaden." Syrus called out.

"Gotta check something out!" Jaden replied as he ran after Blair.

* * *

Meanwhile, Andrew and Shiori was heading to their dorm.

"Well, this is interesting. A dueling school facing another one in a duel." Shiori said. "This will be exciting, huh?" He asked Andrew.

"Yeah. I can hardly wait." He replied. As they were walking, Andrew looked up to the sky and smiled. _'Speaking of dueling school, I wonder how my old friend is doing at the North Academy.'_ He thought.

The image of a figure appeared in his mind. It was a person with short, scarlet red hair, wearing a red jacket and a pair of ripped jeans. If one were to look, one could see the back of this person and not their face.

While Andrew and Shiori were on the way to the Ra dorm, none of them realized they've been stalked by Leon who was sneaking behind the bushes.

"Andrew." He voiced quietly.

But what he doesn't know that someone was stalking him as well. That someone was Matt.

"What are you up to, Leon?"

* * *

 _Back to Jaden_

He followed Blair all the way to the Obelisk Blue boy's dorm. When he arrived, he hid behind a column and watched Blair climbing up on a tree and walked across a branch towards one of the dorm rooms on the second floor.

 _'First he makes that weird comment about Zane, now he's sneaking into the Obelisk Blue dorm. Something's definitely up.'_ He climbed the tree and entered the room. He stood there in silence as Blair made his way across the room. He then took a deck case from the stand next to the bed and opened it up. He took out of the cards, with Cyber Dragon being the top card.

"What in the world is he doing?" He asked himself quietly. He was then weirded out when he saw Blair rub his cheek against the deck case. "This is getting very strange." He said as he backed away all the way to the balcony. He turned around and then...

"Come on, guys. What do you say we chill upstairs?"

He saw Zane making his way towards the dorm, with three other Obelisk boys following him.

"Uh oh. It's Zane." Jaden ran back into the room where Blair was still holding Zane's deck. "I don't know what you're up to, but you've gotta get out of here right now! Otherwise, you'll get booted out of this school for trespassing!"

"Where did you come from?" Blair asked.

They then heard the Obelisks getting closer to the room "Explain later, leave now!" Jaden pulled hard on the on the smaller boy's hand. And then, the next thing happened in slow motion. Blair dropped his hat. And when Jaden turned around to see that Blair... had long, dark-blue hair. "Whoa... what the…?" Blair picked up his hat and ran away. "You're… you're... out of here." As soon as Blair got to the tree, Jaden was about to leave this place. But...

"Hey you!"

He turned around and saw the group of Obelisks entering the room.

"Take a wrong turn on the way to detention?" One of them asked.

"Hey Zane. Look who we caught hanging out in your room."

The Obelisk in question glanced down, making the others follow suit.

"Heh, not just hanging out, he was digging around your cards!" One of the said accusingly.

"You've got some nerve, Slifer!"

"Oh boy." Jaden said nervously. "Now look, it's not like that. See, it was this guy... well girl."

"Save it, Slifer Slacker!" The three Obelisks then approached him.

"Alright! I'll just take off then. Catch you later fellas!" Unfortunately, Jaden was grabbed by them before he got to the tree.

"You are not going anywhere, buddy boy."

"Except to Dr. Crowler's office."

"No, anyone but him!" Jaden said while crying with anime tears.

"Okay, we'll just deal with you ourselves then."

"Dr. Crowler, help, help!"

While this was happening, Zane noticed a hair-clip among his cards. He then had a hunch of what happened.

"Look, I'm telling you, this is just one giant misunderstanding!" Jaden pleaded as he was dragged by the other Obelisks.

"Yeah, then let's see if we can knock some sense into this situation."

"Let him go." Zane said.

"What?" The Obelisks said.

"What?" Jaden parroted.

"Do you want me to reconsider Jaden, or do you want to leave?" Zane asked without turning around.

"Leaving's good. Take care guys! Let's not do this again sometime! Later!" Jaden ran out of the room and eventually came out of the building. "Phew. Wait'll I'll tell the guys about this."

Behind the tree, Blair popped out hearing Jaden's talk. "You won't be telling anyone anything." Blair said in a little girl's voice... her real voice.

* * *

 _Back to Andrew and Shiori_

The two Ras have reached their dorm and entered, completely unaware of Leon following them. Of course, he was unaware of Matt following him. He watched as Leon entered the building.

"He's following Andrew all the way to the Ra Yellow dorm and sneak in. What does he want from him?" Matt asked himself as he entered the dorm as well. He walked through the halls quietly and followed Leon until he saw the cap wearing Slifer enter one room. He snuck up to the entrance and peeked in to see Leon go through some stuff on a desk until he found what he was looking for: a deck case. He opened it up, revealing the top card of the deck. It was Elemental HERO Terra Firma.

"Huh? What is he doing with Andrew's deck?" And then… "What the…?" Matt was flabbergasted. Why? Because Leon was embracing the deck case with affection. "Uh.. Uh…" Matt couldn't say anything at this.

And since none of them could see duel spirits, they didn't notice Phantom Magician floating above the cap wearing Slifer while waving his staff wildly. _"Hey! What do you think you're doing with my partner's deck!"_ He exclaimed.

Matt backed away slowly. "Okay, what the hell is going on here?"

"Matt?"

He jumped upon of someone calling to him. He turned around to see Andrew and Shiori staring at him with confused looks on their faces.

"What are you doing here, Matt?" Andrew asked curiously.

Matt reacted quickly and covered the two Ras' mouths. "Shh. I'll explain later." He whispered. "But right now, there is something you need to see."

"What is it?" Shiori whispered.

"Just look." Matt motioned them to take a look inside Andrew's room. They peeked in and saw Leon hugging Andrew's deck.

"What the…?" Andrew said. He noticed Phantom Magician above the smaller Slifer.

 _"Hands off from Andrew's deck!"_

"That's one of the transfer students." Shiori noted. "What is he doing with Andrew's deck?"

"I actually have no idea." Matt replied, still being weirded out by Leon's behavior.

"Then let's ask him." Andrew declared as he entered the room. "Hey."

Leon gasped and turned around.

 _"Partner."_ Phantom Magician called out.

"I don't know what you're doing here, but if you wanted to visit me, you could have just knocked." Andrew said.

Leon yelped and placed the deck case on the desk before making a run for it.

"Stop right there!" Shiori called out as he stopped him by grabbing his arm. "We just want to ask a few questions."

Leon stumbled and fell on the floor. And then, his cap fell off and revealed his… long, pink hair.

"Wha…?" Shiori and Matt gasped in shock by this. As for Andrew, he gasped as he looked like he recognized Leon.

"W-w-what?" Shiori was so shocked that he lost his grip on Leon's arm. Leon picked up his cap and ran away.

"Hey, wait!" Matt called out as he and Shiori and ran after him... or her.

Andrew just stood there until Phantom Magician appeared next to him. _"What's wrong, partner?"_

"Nothing's wrong... except 'Leon'." Andrew replied as he grabbed his deck case and ran after the others.

* * *

'Leon' was running through the forest for the moment, trying to get away from the boys. She looked behind her to see if she lost them. But by doing so, she failed to notice a person walking in front of her. And of course, she ended up bumping into that person and fell on the ground.

"Ow." 'Leon' groaned. She then looked up and saw a certain Obelisk Blue Girl with blue hair tied in a ponytail staring at her.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"Um…"

"Hey, wait!" Matt called out as he and Shiori came up to them.

"What's going on?" Jenny asked them.

"Well, that girl snuck into Andrew's room and we just want to question her!" Shiori said.

'Leon' got up on her feet and was about to run away...

"Lily, wait up!" Andrew, who just arrived, called out, making Leon, or Lily stop where she was standing.

The others looked at him confused.

"Lily?" Matt repeated.

"You know her, Andrew?" Shiori asked.

"Yes, I know her. And she should know better than sneaking into a school dressed like a boy." Upon hearing those words, Lily lowered her head ashamed.

"Lily…"Jenny voiced as she was thinking. "That sounds like…" She widened her eyes in realization. "Oh, she's the one you saved from that car accident."

"Car accident?" Shiori asked.

"That's right. She was about to get hit by a car once and I saved her. But unfortunately, I ended up in the hospital because of that."

Shiori and Matt gasped.

"Damn." Matt said.

"Hey Andrew." Lily said in her real voice, a girly one. She also took off her cap. "Nice to see you again.

"Why are you here, Lily?" Andrew asked as he approached her. "Why did you disguise yourself to get to this school?"

"Because... I missed you." She said. "I just wanted to see you. Ever since you and I first met, I couldn't help but want to be with you. Especially because of my feelings for you?"

Everyone blinked.

"What do you mean?" Jenny asked.

"It all happened when I was playing with kids...

* * *

 **Flashback**

It was a bright day in Domino City, and Lily was in a park with two kids, a couple of years younger than her. A girl with short, light-brown hair, wearing a lime-green summer dress. And a boy with black hair, wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of blue pants. Lily was wearing a light-purple, sleeveless blouse, a white skirt and matching white shoes. All three of them were tossing ball to each other.

 _"I was playing with two kids, whose mom have gone to get her car. We had some fun for a while. until…_

The boy tossed the ball to Lily and she tried to catch it. However, she somehow tripped a little, causing the ball to get past her. Lily ran after it, but didn't notice that she was approaching a crosswalk. She was getting closer to the ball and failed to notice a car approaching her. Just before she managed to get the ball, a pair of hands pushed her, sending her back to the sidewalk. Since she was facing the opposite direction, she didn't saw what happened. But she heard a bunch of sounds. Like screaming from people. Lily slowly turned around and saw something shocking. People in front of an injured (even a little bloody) and unconscious Andrew laying on the ground in front of the car that hit him. Lily looked at this frightened and...

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

* * *

 _"Seeing Andrew in that state was_ _terrifying. I was so scared. Andrew was brought to the hospital, and luckily, he was saved."_

Andrew was laying in a hospital bed, wearing a hospital gown covering the bandages wrapped around his upper body and cast on his left leg. Lily was there to visit him.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked.

Andrew smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to rest for a few weeks and I'll be on my feet again."

Lily lowered her head. "This is my fault. If I haven't chased after the ball, you wouldn't have been hurt like this." She said in a low voice.

Andrew placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, getting her attention. "Don't be like that. It's not your fault. Bad things happens sometimes. At least I was lucky to survive that accident. I'm just glad you're okay. So cheer up."

Lily widened her eyes as she stared at him with reddened cheeks.

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"When you said those words, Andrew, I was so happy." Lily said while blushing. "No-one showed so much concern about me before. Because of that, I… I've been in love with you. That's why came to this school. So I could be together with you!" She smiled widely and held out her arms.

Andrew was quite shocked by Lily's confession.

Jenny was shocked as well, before she shook her head. "Oh my god."

As for Matt, he blinked twice before he snickered. "Okay, that's just hilarious."

Shiori on the other hand, scratched the back of his hand and let out a sigh. "Well, looks like Andrew got himself another fangirl."

Andrew got over his shock and looked at Lily with a small smile. "Lily, I'm flattered, but I don't feel the same about you."

"Huh?" Lily looked at him confused.

"Don't get me wrong. You are pretty cute, but you're just too young."

"I'm not that young. I'm 8 years old!" She retorted.

Shiori and Matt almost dropped their jaws at that statement. "So she's in second grade?" Matt asked.

"That would most likely be the case." Jenny replied.

"And even if you and I were the same age, we don't know each other so much. You can't find your soulmate simply because of one good thing he did or said to you." Andrew scratched the back of his head with an uncertain look of his. "I don't know so much about love, but I think that's one way to explain it."

"Well, pretty much." Jenny shrugged while the guys nodded.

Lily looked down at the ground. "I see." She said with one single tear appearing from her left eye.

Andrew felt bad for her and decided to give her a hug. "I'm sorry about this, I really am. Don't feel bad, Lily. Like I said, you're pretty cute. I'm sure you'll meet someone who might be interested in you."

Lily looked up and perked up. "You really think so?"

Andrew pulled back and smiled. "Absolutely."

Lily wiped away the tear and smiled. "Thank you." She said as she returned hug.

Everyone smiled at this.

"So, what do we now?" Matt asked.

"Obviously, we should make sure she's coming home." Jenny said. "She _is_ in second grade after all, so she's too young to be a Duel Academy student."

"That's true." Shiori added.

Lily stepped away from Andrew. "Wait! I know I have to go home. You're right. I shouldn't have been here in the first place. But can I ask you a favor first?"

What is it?" Andrew asked.

"I... want to duel you, Andrew. My feelings for you isn't the only reason I came here. I wanted to show you how a good duelist I am. I know I have to go home, but can you at least duel me first?" She then bowed. "Please?" She pleaded.

"A duel?" Andrew asked. He then turned to the others. "What do you guys think?"

Shiori shrugged. "Why not?"

"It's not like we have to rush to get her home." Matt added.

"Besides…" Jenny asked. "I'm kinda curious of her skills if she was able to pass her entrance exams, despite her age."

Andrew smiled. "Now when you mention it, so am I."

Lily looked up. "So then…"

"Alright Lily. I'll duel you."

Lily smiled brightly. "Thank you!"

And just a moment later, the two them took their positions, took out their duel disks and activated them.

"Now then, are you ready?" Andrew asked.

"Yup!" Lily replied.

"In that case…"

"DUEL!"

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Lily: 4000**

"Me first." Lily declared as she drew her card. "I summon Familiar Knight in defense mode!" A knight in grey armor with a red cape kneeled down in front of her carrying a shield and sword. (ATK: 1200 **DEF: 1400** LV: 3) "I place one card facedown and end my turn." She concluded with a card appearing behind the knight.

"Then it's my turn." Andrew said and drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Heat in attack mode." The white and red armored hero stood up on the field. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "This monster gains 200 attack points for every Elemental HERO on my field. ( **ATK: 1600-1800** ) "Now Heat, attack with Burning Fist!" The fire hero ignited his right fist and dashed forward to smash Familiar Knight, making him explode.

"You just activated Familiar Knight's special ability." Lily said. "When he's destroyed in battle, each player is allowed to summon a level 4 monster from their hand."

"In that case, I summon Elemental HERO Lady Heat in defense mode." Heat's female counterpart kneeled down right next to him. (ATK: 1300 **DEF: 1000** LV: 4) ( **ATK: 1800-2000** )

"And I summon Queen's Knight in attack mode." A blonde woman in red armor with a matching red sword and shield appeared. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1600 LV: 4)

"I place one card facedown and end my turn." Andrew said as a facedown card appeared. "And this activates Lady Heat's ability. During my end phase, you take 200 points of damage for every Elemental HERO I've got." The fire heroine conjured a fireball in her right hand threw it at Lily.

 **Lily: 4000-3600**

"Okay." Lily drew a card. "I summon King's Knight in attack mode." The warrior appearing right next to Queen's Knight was a bearded man in orange armor with a sword and shield of his own. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1400 LV: 4)

"A queen and a king." Matt noted.

"And that doesn't stop there." Jenny added.

"That's right, because if I summon King's Knight while having Queen's Knight on the field, I can summon Jack's Knight from my deck." The two royal knights raised their swords, crossed them and created a portal. Out of it came a third knight. A young man with long blonde hair and wearing a blue and silver armor. Just like the other two knights, he had a sword and shield. ( **ATK: 1900** DEF: 1000 LV: 5)

"Three monsters just like that. Not bad for an 8 years old." Shiori commented.

"Not bad all." Andrew added.

"Thank you." Lily replied cheerful. "But that's not all, I also play the spell The A. Forces." A spell card appeared behind Jack's Knight. "Thanks to this card, all my warrior type monsters gains 200 attack points for every spellcaster or warrior type monster I control."

"Whoa!" Andrew gasped.

"And since all three of them are warrior type monsters…" Matt started to say.

"Their attack strength is increased by 600 points." Jenny filled in.

All three knights glowed brightly. ( **ATK: 1500-2100** ) ( **ATK: 1600-2200** ) ( **ATK: 1900-2500** )

"Uh oh." Andrew voiced.

"Time to battle!" Lily declared. "King's Knight, attack. Destroy his Heat!" The bearded warrior charged forward as he raised his sword.

"I activate Waboku!" Andrew's facedown card flipped up and created a barrier, causing the knight to halt. "During this turn, my trap keeps me from taking battle damage. And as a bonus, my monsters can't be destroyed battle this turn."

"Aww." Lily pouted cutely at this. "I guess I'll end my turn."

Andrew drew his next card. "I play Polymerization. And I'll use it to combine Lady Heat with Ice Edge from my hand and summon Elemental HERO Absolute Zero." Lady Heat was absorbed into a fusion vortex, along with the icy clad kid. And in their place, a blizzard occurred which then died down and revealed the mighty, white armored warrior. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 2000 LV: 8) "Now it's time take down your monsters. Absolute Zero, attack King's Knight with Raging Blizzard!" The hero unleashed a powerful blizzard that made its way toward the knights.

"Oh no you don't!" Lily interrupted as she revealed her facedown card. "I activate Mirror Force! Now I can destroy all monsters you have on the field in attack mode." A glass wall appeared and reflected the blizzard. Andrew's hero were caught in it and was eventually destroyed. "Yay! My monsters are safe!" She cheered.

"Not exactly." Andrew replied with a smirk.

"Huh?"

Lily was then surprised by seeing another blizzard occur and surround all three of her knights. And then, they were destroyed.

"What the…!?"

"Sorry, but when my Absolute Zero leaves the field, all monsters on my opponent's field are destroyed."

"So much for the triple threat." Matt commented.

"That Absolute Zero is not a monster to take lightly." Shiori added.

"To end my turn, I summon Elemental HERO Shadow Mist in defense mode." Andrew concluded as the black armored woman kneeled down in front of him. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1500** LV: 4)

"Alright!" Lily drew her next card. "I activate the spell card Pot of Greed. Now I can draw two cards." After drawing her two cards, she inserted one of them into her duel disk. "Then I activate the spell card Dark Factory of Mass Production. This lets me take two normal monsters from my graveyard back to my hand, like Queen's Knight and Jack's Knight." She took out the named cards from the graveyard slot. "And now I activate Monster Reborn so I can bring back my King's Knight." The orange armored warrior returned to the field. ( **ATK: 1600-1800** DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "And now I summon Command Knight." The new monster was female warrior wearing red armor with a black cape and holding a long sword. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1900 LV: 4) "Thanks to The A. Forces, she gets stronger." ( **ATK: 1200-1600** ) ( **ATK: 1800-2000** )

"Another knight, huh?" Andrew noted. "Is it some kind of themed deck you built."

"Yup. Because of my crush on you, I made a knight deck since you saved me, like a knight in shining armor." Lily explained with her face being a little pink tinted.

"You don't say." Andrew replied as he sweat dropped at her explanation.

And so did Jenny. "Makes me wonder if she really thought things through when she built her deck."

"Anyway, my Command Knight has a special ability. She gives my warrior type monsters, including herself, 400 extra attack points." ( **ATK: 1600-2000** ) ( **ATK: 2000-2400** )

"Uh oh." Andrew voiced.

"Command Knight, attack Shadow Mist!" The female knight slashed down on the dark female hero.

"When Shadow Mist is sent to the graveyard, her special ability activates." Andrew said. "Now I can take a HERO monster from my deck and add it to my hand. I choose Blazeman." He held up the card he took from his deck.

"Okay, but now you're wide open. I attack you directly with King's Knight!" The bearded warrior dashed forward and slashed down on him.

 **Andrew: 4000-1600**

"Ooh, that's gotta hurt." Matt stated.

"And that ends my turn." Lily concluded. "By the way, if I have another monster on the field, Command Knight is safe from your attacks."

 _'Which means I have to get through KIng's Knight first.'_ Andrew thought. "I draw." He looked at the card he drew. _'Hm, not what I was hoping for, but I guess it will do._ _'_

"First I activate the spell card Swords of Revealing Light." Lily's monsters were now surrounded by swords of light. "Now you can't attack for three turns. Then I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman." The flame headed hero appeared. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "And now I activate his special ability. By sending an Elemental HERO from my deck to the graveyard, Blazeman will have that monster's attack and defense points, as well its attribute until the end of my turn. So I'll send Bladedge to the grave." When Andrew slid the golden hero into the graveyard slot, the red armored hero glowed brightly as his armor's color turned into dark brown. ( **ATK: 1200-2600** DEF: 1800)

"2600 attack points!" Lily gasped.

"More than enough to destroy you King's Knight. Now go!" Blazeman smashed the orange armored knight with his left fist, making him explode.

 **Lily:** **3600-3400** ( **ATK: 2000-1800** )

"And with that, I'm done." Blazeman turned back to normal. ( **ATK: 2600-1200** )

Lily drew her next card. "Okay, maybe I can't attack, but I can summon Queen's Knight." The blonde female warrior appeared next to Command Knight. "And now for her power boost." Both of her knight monster glowed for a moment. ( **ATK: 1500-2300** DEF: 1600 LV: 4) ( **ATK: 1800-2000** ) "I end my turn."

"My turn." Andrew drew a card. " I summon Elemental HERO Knospe in attack mode." The little plant hero appeared. ( **ATK: 600** DEF: 1000 LV: 3) "With another Elemental HERO on my field, she can bypass your monsters and attack you directly. Now Knospe, attack with Seed Blast!" The hero fired seeds from its open buds, causing Lily to shield herself.

 **Lily: 3400-2800**

"And after her direct attack is successful, her attack points are increased by 100, and her defense points are decreased by the same amount." ( **ATK: 600-700** DEF: 1000-900) "I switch Blazeman to defense mode and end my turn." The fire hero crossed his arms and kneeled down.

"Draw." Lily drew her next card. "I summon Doomcaliber Knight." A fiendish knight riding on a black steed came galloping on the field. It was wielding a sword and shield that looked as fiendish as his skeleton face. ( **ATK: 1900** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "This monster is a fiend type, so there won't be any extra points. I end my turn."

"I draw." Andrew announced. "Then I'll attack with Knospe again." The plant hero fired another barrage of seeds.

 **Lily: 2800-2100**

"And now she gets a power boost." The hero started to glow.

But it was then Lily smirked. "Not this time." After she said that, the Doomcaliber Knight disappeared.

"Huh? What happened to her monster?" Matt asked.

"Not just him. Look." Shiori said.

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing at and saw Knospe cry out in pain as she was surrounded by a red aura. And then, she exploded.

"What happened?" Andrew asked.

"It was my Doomcaliber Knight's ability. When a monster effect is activated, he is automatically sacrificed, and that monster's special ability is cancelled out."

"Well, that wasn't too bad." Jenny said smiling.

"A good move." Andrew complimented. "You're a promising duelist, Lily."

"Thank you." She said smiling brightly.

"I think I'll end my turn with a facedown." A card appeared behind Blazeman.

"I draw." Lily drew a card. "I activate the spell card The Warrior Returning Alive. This lets me take back a warrior type monster from my graveyard and add it to my hand. I choose King's Knight." The card came out of the graveyard slot of her duel disk. "And now I'll summon him to the field." The bearded knight appeared on the field, once again. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "And of course, he gets stronger, thanks to my spell and Command Knight." ( **ATK: 1600-2600** ) ( **ATK: 2300-2500** ) ( **ATK: 2000-2200** )

"Him again?" Matt asked. "How many times is she planning to summon him?"

"She probably just wanted to power up her monsters." Shiori guessed.

Jenny on the other hand had a look of suspicion on her face. _'I don't know about that. It might be something else. And based on the fact that those knights work together, I think I know what it is.'_

"I end my turn." Lily concluded as the swords of light disappeared.

"Alright then." Andrew drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Flash in defense mode." The blue and silver clad, electric hero appeared next to Blazeman. (ATK: 1100 **DEF: 1600** LV: 4) "I end my turn."

"Here goes." Lily looked at the card she drew and smiled. "Okay, now I drew what I needed." She held it up. "I activate Polymerization."

Andrew and the boys gasped. Jenny nodded firmly. "I knew it." She said.

"And I'll use it to fuse Queen's Knight, King's Knight and Jack's Knight in order to summon my most powerful monster. Arcana Knight Joker!" The three knights joined together and entered the fusion vortex. And out of it, appeared a warrior clad in black armor golden accessories, including a set of red, yellow and blue jewels in several places in the armor. His left arm carried a shield, and the right arm carried a silver blade. ( **ATK: 3800** DEF: 2500 LV: 9) With one warrior monster less on Lily's field, Command Knight became weaker. ( **ATK: 2200-2000** )

"Whoa! That's one powerful fusion monster." Shiori commented.

"And it's about to get stronger." Jenny added.

"That's right, because I still have The A. Forces and Command Knight on the field." The new knight glowed with a golden aura. ( **ATK: 3800-4600** )

"4600 attack points!" Andrew exclaimed.

"And I'm gonna use all them on you. Arcana Knight Joker, attack Blazeman with Royal Flush Blade!" The warrior roared and raised his sword, getting ready to strike.

"I activate my trap card Fiendish Chain!" Andrew's facedown card flipped up. "This lets me choose an effect monster on the field. And then, that monster can't attack or activate it's effects. I choose Arcana Knight Joker." Chains erupted from the ground and were about to wrap themselves around the knight.

"Sorry Andrew, but my Joker has a special effect. If he's targeted by a card effect, I can negate it and destroy it by discarding a card that is the same type as the one targeting him. So I'll discard the trap card Shift to destroy Fiend Chain." As soon as Lily slid her card into the graveyard slot, the warrior used his sword to cut the chains to pieces.

Andrew clicked his tongue. "I was hoping you didn't have one in your hand."

Lily stuck out her tongue playfully. "Too bad for you. That means my attack continues." The knight slashed down on the fire hero. "And now Command Knight, destroy his Flash!" The female warrior took down the electric hero the same way as Arcana Knight Joker.

"You activated his special ability. When Flash is destroyed in battle, I can remove him from play, plus three other Elemental Heroes from my graveyard." Lady Heat, Ice Edge and Bladedge came out of the graveyard slot. "Then I can take a normal spell card from my graveyard and add it to my hand. I choose Polymerization."

"Okay, if that's all, then I'll end my turn." Lily concluded

"Man, I can't believe managed to push him to a corner." Shiori said.

"And this might be his last chance to turn this around." Matt added.

"Here goes." Jenny muttered.

"I draw." Andrew announced. He looked at the card he drew and held it up. "I activate Pot of Greed, and that means two more cards for me." Andrew drew his two cards, looked at them and smiled. "This is it, Lily."

"Huh?" She widened her eyes.

"First I play my own The Warrior Returning Alive. So now I can take back a warrior type monster from my graveyard. So welcome back, Elemental HERO Blazeman." He took the named card from his graveyard slot and placed it on the duel disk, making the red armored fire hero appear. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "And once again, I activate his special ability. I'll send my Stratos to the graveyard so Blazeman will have his strength." The spirit of the turbine winged hero appeared and entered the fire hero's body, making his red armor turn green. ( **ATK: 1200-1800** DEF: 1800-300)

"What are you going to do?" Lily asked.

"Simple, I'll use Polymerization to combine my Elemental HERO Woodsman and Blazeman, who by the way, is a wind monster now." The green armored hero and the green-skinned wooden man entered the fusion vortex. "By doing so, I can create a new hero." And it was then a powerful whirlwind came out of the fusion vortex. It was so strong that it caused Lily and the spectators to hold up their arms for protection.

"Whoa! What's he gonna bring out now?" Shiori wondered.

"We're about to find out." Jenny replied.

They all watched as a figure was formed inside the whirlwind. "Now come forth, Elemental HERO Great Tornado!" Andrew called out. The whirlwind died down and revealed a warrior in green, black and yellow armor with a tattered black cloak hanging over his left shoulder. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 2200 LV: 8)

"Wow! That guy is cool." Matt commented.

"Really cool." Lily added, staring at the new hero with amazement, until she looked at Andrew. "But, that monster is not as strong as Arcana Knight Joker, and as long as I have another monster on the field, Command Knight is safe."

Andrew just smirked. "True, and that's where his special ability comes in. Great Tornado, unleash your Downburst!" The hero raised his right fist and created a fierce tornado. Lily's monsters were then trapped within it. "Here's how it works: When Great Tornado is fusion summoned, the attack and defense points of all your monsters are cut in half. And since this doesn't target, your Joker can't stop it."

Lily gasped and watched as her monsters fell to their knees due to the loss of their strength. ( **ATK: 4600-2300** DEF: 2500-1250) ( **ATK: 2000-1000** DEF: 1900-950)

"Nice!" The boys cheered.

"Alright!" Jenny cheered.

"Now Great Tornado, attack her Arcana Knight Joker! Supercell!" The yellow parts of the hero's armor glowed brightly. And then, the tornado was only surrounding the Arcana Knight, who screamed in pain before he exploded.

 **Lily: 2100-1600** ( **ATK: 1000-800** )

"Oh no!" Lily cried out.

"And I'm not done yet. I have one card left." Andrew declared and held it up. "I play Form Change. With this spell card, I can send a HERO fusion monster back to my fusion deck, and replace it with a Masked HERO that has the same level, but a different name. So now I'll change Great Tornado into…" The hero's body glowed. "Masked HERO Divine Wind!" The elemental hero was now taking the form of the emerald-green armored, masked hero. ( **ATK: 2700** DEF: 1900 LV: 8) "Now Divine Wind, end this duel with Storming Justice!" The hero glowed and then it was Command Knight's turn to be surrounded by a tornado. And just like the previous knight, she screamed in pain and exploded.

 **Lily: 1600-0000**

The holograms disappeared and Andrew turned off his duel disk.

"Nice dueling." Shiori said as he and the others approached him.

"You really pulled off the big gun." Matt added.

"Thanks." Andrew said smiling.

Jenny smiled as well and turned toward Lily who looked down on the ground with a disappointed look on her face. She walked up to her. "Are you okay?"

Lily looked up a little. "Yeah."

Jenny placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't feel bad. You were great. I'm actually surprised you could duel like that."

"Me too." Andrew said as he and the others approached them. "You dueled great, Lily. I believe you might become a top duelist when you're old enough to become a student here."

"You really mean that?" Lily asked as she perked up.

"No doubt about it."

Lily smiled brightly.

"Okay, now it's time help Lily come home." Matt declared.

Everyone nodded in agreement. However, Lily glanced away with an uneasy look on her face. She then thought… _'I wonder if Blair is okay.'_

* * *

That night, Alexis and Jenny headed to the lighthouse, where Zane was waiting for them. On the way, Jenny told Alexis about Lily. She was surprised that a little girl would sneak into the school, all because of having a crush on Andrew. When they arrived, Alexis was the one who spoke up...

"Wow, a cold, wet dock in the middle of the night. You sure haven't forgotten how to show a girl good time." She said sarcastically.

Jenny laughed lightly at that. "So, what's up, Zane?"

"I caught Jaden snooping in my room today." He answered.

"Jaden? What on earth would he be doing in your room?" Alexis asked.

"I don't know, but I found this." He showed them a wooden barrette with a cute duel monster on it.

"Uh, that's a girl's hair clip." Alexis pointed out.

"I don't think it belongs to Lily." Jenny added.

Zane turned to them. "Who's Lily?"

Alexis and Jenny looked at each other before looking at him.

"She's a girl who came to this school dressed as a boy." The former answered.

Zane just kept his stoic expression and closed his eyes. "I see, so Blair wasn't the only one then."

Alexis and Jenny blinked. "Blair?" The latter asked.

"One of the new transfer students. Just like this Lily you just mentioned, Blair is trying to pass off as a boy for some reason." The Obelisk boy explained.

"Okay, we may have found out Lily's reason, but what's Blair's reason?" Alexis wondered.

"Better go and find out." At that, Zane walked off, followed by Alexis and Jenny. Jenny took out her PDA and prepared a message for Andrew.

* * *

Meanwhile, Syrus walked into him and his friends' dorm room, drying his hair with a towel. "Alright Jaden, the outhouse, she's all yours. Jay?" He blinked when he noticed that Jaden wasn't there. "Where is he?"

Chumley, who was in hid bed, got up. "I thought he was with you." He said.

"I hope not, I was taking a shower. So you're saying you haven't seen Jaden since he was running off?"

"That's what I'm saying. Of course, my eyes were shut for my six hour nap."

"I hope everything's okay."

* * *

At the same time, Matt and Lily had just returned to their own dorm room, with the latter wearing her cap again, hiding her long, pink hair.

"Okay, better get yourself ready." Matt said.

"Yeah." Lily said, although with an almost sad tone. "I just hope Blair will be…" She stopped at mid sentence as she looked around and found Blair nowhere. "Wait, where is Blair?"

Matt looked around. "That's weird, why isn't he here?"

Lily started to look nervous. "Could it be she has been exposed?" She muttered.

"Hm? What did you say?" Matt asked.

But Lily ignored him. She was just worried about Blair. And then, to Matt's surprise, she ran out of the dorm room.

"Hey, where are you going?" He called out as he ran after her.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jaden and Blair were standing at the bottom of the seaside cliff right beneath the Slifer dorm. After Jaden found out Blair's identity, the little girl convinced the brown-haired Slifer to have a chat. Blair had her hair hidden in her cap, only this time she had an orange bandana to keep her long hair in place. As for Jaden, he was holding a backpack.

"Listen Jaden," Blair spoke up. "The fact that I'm a girl has to stay a secret."

"But what for, Blair?"

The girl didn't answer Jaden's question. She just looked down.

"Look , I don't want to blow your cover, but if I'm gonna keep the secret, I think I should at least know why it is one…"

"NO! You don't need to know why! Nobody does, you got that!" She snapped.

Jaden kneeled down and reached into the backpack. "Fine, but if you're not gonna tell me, you at least have to duel me."

"What!?"

"Get your game on." Jaden challenged as he gave Blair a duel disk.

"A duel? How will that solve anything?" She asked.

"Cuz in a duel, the truth always comes out."

"Fine, but if I win, You keep quiet without me having to explain myself."

"Hey, this duel will tell all I need to know."

None of them noticed Syrus and Chumley peeking over the cliff. "Well, we found them." The koala duelist said.

"But what are they talking about down there?" Syrus asked.

"I don't know."

"Hey guys!" Someone called out from behind. They turned around to see Lily and Matt approaching them. "What are you doing out here?" Matt asked.

"Shhhh!" Syrus and Chumley hushed, trying to get them lower their voices.

Matt and Lily tiptoed over to them and saw Jaden and Blair talking to each other. "Ah, there is Blair." Matt said.

"Did Jaden find out." Lily asked herself. But unfortunately for her, she was loud enough for all three boys to hear her.

"What do you mean find out?" Chumley asked.

"Oh… Um…" Lily tried to answer, but she couldn't get any words out of her mouth.

Matt looked at her suspiciously. "Lily, is there something you haven't told us yet?" He asked.

Syrus and Chumley blinked at what they just heard. "Lily?" They said.

Matt realized what he just said. "Oops."

Lily on the other hand calmed down. "It's okay. Since I'm going to leave this school, I may as well tell the truth." She then took off her cap, revealing her long, pink hair.

Syrus and Chumley were shocked by her appearance. "Huh!?"

"Yeah, your eyes are not fooling you. I'm actually a girl, and my real name is Lily, not Leon."

"So, you're a girl…" Syrus repeated.

"And came to this school in disguise?" Chumley filled in.

"Yeah."

"But why?" Syrus asked.

"It's a long story, but let's save that for later." Matt replied. "Right now…" He turned to Lily. "I would like you to answer me, Lily. Is there something you forgot to tell me and the others."

Lily looked down. "Well, you see…"

"I don't think she needs to tell us." Someone spoke up. Everyone turned to see Andrew, along with Shiori, Zane, Alexis and Jenny. "Because we already figured out what that is."

"Really?" Matt asked.

Zane nodded before he spoke up. "It's about Blair. He's not a guy, she's really a girl. The Obelisk security cameras showed her in our dorm."

"Wait, so Blair is another girl in disguise?" Matt asked.

"That's right." Jenny replied.

"But what they didn't show is why she's gone to all this trouble." Alexis added.

"Do you know anything, Lily?" Andrew asked.

The pink-haired girl shook her head. "No, she never told me why. Of course, I never told her my reason either. She only asked me to keep her identity secret and promised to keep mine secret."

"That's too bad." Shiori said.

"I wonder how Jaden plans to solve that mystery…" Syrus said.

"DUEL!"

Everyone looked down to see Jaden and Blair start their duel.

 **Jaden: 4000**

 **Blair: 4000**

"Time to throw down" Jaden declared.

"Alright!" Blair said, drawing her card. "Get ready... to fall in love. I summon Maiden in Love!" A young, beautiful girl wearing a flowing yellow dress appeared. She had wavy long brown hair, just as beautiful as her pink tainted face. ( **ATK: 400** DEF: 300 LV: 2)

"She's cute." Syrus commented. Chumley grumbled a bit, while Matt and Lily gave him a weird look. The rest of the group focused on the duel.

"My turn now! Here goes!" Jaden drew his next card. "So many choices, but I think that I'll go with this one: Elemental HERO Avian!" The green hero with feather wings appeared. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1000 LV: 3) "Attack!"

"(sigh) My poor, helpless maiden." Syrus said sadly.

"Hey, who says she's yours?" Chumley responded.

"How about we let the monsters do the fighting, okay guys?" Alexis suggested while Jenny shook her head at their behavior.

"Quill Cascade!" Avian beat his wings hard and sent his quills down onto the maiden, who gasped both in surprise and pain before falling down to her knees to cover herself from the attack. Blair endured the wind that was blown her way.

 **Blair: 4000-3400**

"You may have broken her heart, but she lives to love another day!" She said. "You see, as long as she stays in attack mode, her special ability keeps her from being destroyed"

"Sounds like she's got a monster with some girl power." Shiori commented.

"You're not falling for her, are you?" Andrew asked.

"Nope, not quite."

A cooing sound grabbed Jaden's attention. He turned to see his duel spirit. "Winged Kuriboh." The spirit pointed to Blair's side of the field and Jaden was shocked to see his wind hero kneel beside the maiden. "Whoa! What's going on?"

 _"My... my lady, are you alright?"_ Avian asked.

 _"Maybe, maybe not."_ Maiden replied, looking away.

"WHAT!?" Jaden shrieked, surprised at his monster's behavior. "Come on, Avian, pull yourself together! You're supposed to be in attack mode, not in love!"

"It looks like we have some competition." Syrus said to Chumley.

"You guys are weird." Matt commented.

"Yeah, it's just stupid of you to be like this because of a duel monster." Lily added.

"But she's a good looking duel monster." Syrus replied, making them face palm while Andrew and Shiori shook their heads.

"My monster is head over heels, could it get any worse?" Jaden asked, staring at the field.

Blair hummed playfully. "Actually, it could, Jaden. See, Maiden in Love has another special ability too. Any monster that attacks her get a Maiden Counter." She explained as the maiden sent away a small love heart that popped right in front Avian's face.

"What's Maiden Counter?" Jaden inquired.

"You'll find out.~" Blair replied as the wind hero blushed and a love heart appeared on his chest. "Well, moving on." She drew her next card and looked at her hand. She then inserted a card into her duel disk. "Alright, I attach the equip spell card Cupid's Kiss to my Maiden." A small cherub with a bow appeared and kissed the maiden on the cheek. "And now…" Blair pointed to Avian. "I'll have her attack!"

The maiden ran slowly to the other side of the field. _"Mister Avian Hero, come out, come out wherever you are. I want to give you a hug."_ She called out. Avian was surprised at this and stepped aside, causing the girl to fall to the ground. She slowly sat up and and looked at him sadly. _"Why did you do that? You're so mean!"_ She placed her face into her hands and cried.

 _"My Lady…"_ Avian kneeled down. _"Please accept my apologies."_

 _"Okay."_ The maiden smiled and blew him a kiss.

"Give me a break." Jaden complained as the hero monster helped the girl up.

 _"Now, how about doing me a little favor, mister Avian?"_ The maiden asked sweetly.

 _"Anything."_

 _"Good, see him?"_ She pointed to Jaden. _"Take him down."_

 _"Done!"_ Avian leapt in the air and flapped his wings, creating a gust.

Jaden covered his face as the attack ripped through him. "Avian, are you nuts!? Come on, snap out of it! Can't you see she's totally just using you!?"

"She can use me anytime!" Syrus said.

 _'I never felt this way without a grilled cheese around.'_ Chumley thought to himself.

"Sorry Jaden, but when Maiden takes damage from a monster that's been pegged with a Maiden Counter, the equip spell Cupid's Kiss automatically activates. And that lets me take control of your monster. Sure, it costs me some points, but it's about to cost you a lot more."

 **Jaden: 4000-3000**

 **Blair: 3400-2800**

"That's gotta hurt Jaden more than his life points." Jenny noted. "With that equip spell, she's able to control any monster he would play against her."

"This proves that even the weakest monster can be the most troublesome one." Andrew added.

"Well, now that I've taken control of your only monster, I think I'll just play a facedown card and end my turn." Blair concluded, inserting the card into her duel disk.

"Man, Avian's fallen in love, and I'm falling behind." Jaden commented as he drew his next card and looked at it. _'Sparkman.'_ He looked back at the field. _'But if I attack, he'll fall for Maiden just like Avian did. Still, I got do something'_  
"I summon the Elemental HERO Sparkman!" The blue and golden hero showed up in an electric current. **(ATK: 1600** DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "Hate to do it Avian, but you're either with me or against! Sparkman, attack Avian with Static Shockwave!"

The hero fired a stream of electricity in attempt to destroy the wind hero. But Blair had another plan. "Don't think so! I use Defense Maiden!"As soon as the trap card flipped up, both Jaden and Avian were surprised to see the maiden step in just in time to take full hit of Sparkman's attack. "See, it redirects Sparkman's attack so that Maiden in Love gets hit instead of Avian." Blair explained while her life points went...

 **Blair: 2800-1600**

"And you know what that means."

The Maiden fell to her knees, shaking due to the damage of the attack. Avian knelt down beside her, glaring at his fellow hero. _"Sparkman, you dare strike a_ _defenseless maiden? For shame Sparkman, for shame!"_ He scolded.

Sparkman clutched his helmet and cried a little _"You're right! I'm so sorry!"_ He apologized to the maiden. _"I beg for your forgiveness! I'll do anything, anything!"_

 _"Anything?"_ She asked as she looked up. _"Well, nothing comes to mind now, but I'm sure I'll think of something later."_ She said, winking at him.

Sparkman was overjoyed. _"Smply say the word, my darling!"_ He said as a pink love heart appeared on his chest.

While Jaden groaned at this, Blair smiled. "And she will now that he's pegged with a Maiden Counter."

"I want one!" Syrus said. "How do I get a Maiden Counter?"

"Yeah, me too! I want one too!" Chumley agreed.

"Uh… guys, try remember that is just a card you're looking at." Alexis suggested.

"I think it's gonna take a while after the duel." Jenny commented.

Zane closed his eyes. "Try remember who you're talking to. When we were growing up, Syrus used to claim that he was going steady with Dark Magician Girl."

That caused Matt and Lily snort, to the Syrus' embarrassment.

"Are you serious?" Andrew asked while trying his best to keep himself from laughing.

"She break you heart, Sy? Or did you just decide to see other monsters?" Alexis asked teasingly.

"Well, he was ogling my Queen of Oblivion card once." Shiori said.

"Hey!" Syrus retorted with a red face.

"Alright, here I go!" Blair announced and began her next turn. "I activate the equip spell card Happy Marriage!" The maiden's yellow dress was now replaced by a white wedding dress with flowers in her hands. "Now Maiden gains as many attack points as Avian has... that is, if Avian says 'I do' of course."

 _"It would be my honor."_ He swore as he took the maiden's arm into his. ( **ATK: 400-1400** )

"Hooray!" Blair cheered to Jaden's dismay. "Now let's have her pay a visit to Sparkman. Attack!" The Maiden ran to Sparkman, who stepped aside, causing her to trip.

 **"Blair: 1600-1400**

Jaden groaned while Winged Kuriboh sweat dropped.

 _"Sparkman, how could you do that? You said you'd do anything for me."_ She whimpered, sobbing in her hands.

Sparkman immediately went to her aid. _"You're right, I'm sorry! Command me, my love!"_

 _"Alright then, that's better."_ She said looking at him.

 _"What is your wish?"_ Jaden was clearly weirded out at this.

 _"I wish... that you'd beat up that mean boy over there!"_ She pointed to Jaden.

 _"With pleasure!"_ The electric turned to Jaden and fired a stream of electricity.

Jaden yelled as he got zapped by his own monster's attack.

 _"Well, don't just stand there, hubby."_ The maiden said to Avian.

 _"Of_ _course not, my dear."_ He beat his wings, and the the air blasts combined with the electric attack, causing even more damage to Jaden.

Blair then took off her cap and bandana, allowing her long hair to flow loosely. "Sorry, but you'll never be able to beat me, Jaden. I'm dueling for love."

 **Jaden: 3000-0400**

"Did she say dueling for love? Doesn't she mean dueling with love?" Zane wondered.

"Don't tell me you haven't put the pieces together yet." Alexis said. "Think about it Zane. She puts on a disguise, tricks her way into our school, breaks into your room."

Lily and the other boys widened their eyes and realized where she was getting at. "I can't believe I didn't realize it earlier." Lily said. " _She's_ in love."

"Big time." Jenny replied. "And she's in love with you, Zane."

Winged Kuriboh cooed to his partner as Jaden rose to his feet. "Yeah, you're right. Playing two guys against Maiden wasn't too smart, but what's done is done. Not much I can do about it now." He shrugged as he drew his next card and then looked at his hand. "Or is there? Of course, it's so obvious! If I'm gonna take on that Maiden, I need a woman's touch. And I have just the one!" He said as he summoned a certain red clad, female hero. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 800 LV: 3) "Now set those saps straight, Burstinatrix!"

Both Sparkman and Avian started to panic when they saw her. _"Burstinatrix!"_ They exclaimed. _"Uh... I know this looks bad, but…"_ Avian started.

 _"Save it!"_ She interrupted as she was surrounded by a fiery aura. " _You two are pathetic! But your honeymoon is just about over!"_

 _"We're in for it now!"_ They stepped back while Maiden glanced at them confused.

"Wow! You go, Burstinatrix. Now let's go and get our monsters back." Jaden declared as he held up a spell card. "I activate Burst Return! When Burstinatrix is out, this card let's me bring back all other Elemental Heroes to my hand. Trust me, you guys will thank me for it."

The little pink hearts on the two male heroes' chests disappeared, and the shook their heads, as if they were coming out of a trance.

 _"What was I thinking?"_ Avian clutched his head. _"I didn't want to get married!"_

 _"Oh boy, Sparkwoman's never going to forgive me!"_ Sparkman followed suit and held his head.

The both of them then looked at each other. _"Guy pact: this didn't happen, okay!"_

 _"How about you two guys get over here right now or I'll tell the entire deck!"_ Burstinatrix snapped at them.

Both heroes left the field, leaving Maiden alone.

"Alright, and now that I have my heroes back, it's time for a little payback." Jaden said as he played another card. "I play Polymerization and fuse together Burstinatrix and Avian to create Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!" The two heroes combined together and appeared in the form of Jaden's headliner. ( **ATK: 2100** DEF: 1200 LV: 6) "Now that's the perfect couple, and this is the perfect attack: Infernal Rage!" The hero raised his dragon arm and fired a stream of flames, destroying the maiden. By the time the others came down to the two duelists, Blair was engulfed by the flames and lost her remaining life points.

 **Blair: 1400-0000**

Jaden glanced at his duel spirit before giving Blair his usual two finger salute. "That's game! Thanks for the sweet duel, Blair. That was fun."

Blair sighed and looked at him. "Alright, guess I have to tell you my secret now."

"Nah, I learned more than enough, from our duel, Blair. And I think our spectators learned a few things aw well." Blair turned around and saw Zane and the others standing a short ways behind her.

Alexis smiled and glanced at the top duelist. "Sure did. Love is on her mind, Zane."

Jaden noticed Lily and looked at her confused. "Wait a minute, who is that?"

Lily looked at him embarrassed. "Well, it's me, Leon. Only, my real name is Lily."

Jaden blinked. "Wait, so you're another girl in disguise?" Lily nodded. "Then why were _you_ dressed like a boy?"

"I'll explain later." Andrew responded. "Right now, it's Blair we should listen to."

Blair got up on her feet quickly. "Zane, you're here!" She blushed a little. "Well then, I guess you know…" She lowered her head. "I'm the one who snuck into your dorm room, not Jaden. I've been in love with you ever since I met you.

Zane nodded. "The nationals."

"Yeah, that's right. We met right after you won the championship match. It was then I made a pledge, that I would do anything to be with you."

Chumley and Syrus let out an 'aww' at that.

"Kinda similar to my situation." Lily commented.

"I remember you said if I trained really really hard, I could get into Duel Academy like you, so I did. And now that I'm here... we can get married!" Blair opened her arms wide and smiled as sweet as Maiden in Love.

Zane took a step back in uncertainty while Andrew, Shiori and Matt laughed at this. Of course, Jaden was laughing as well. "Get married! That's a good one!" He said. "Your honeymoon can be in the cafeteria. Dr. Crowler can give you away!"

"I'm not joking." She told him.

Alexis smiled slightly and spoke to her. "Blair sweetie, love doesn't work like that. You can't sneak your way into somebody's heart. Just look what happened to your maiden. She used tricks to get love and she ended up alone and in tears. You can't use spells or disguises to find your soulmate. You have to be honest and upfront with them."

Lily stared at her with awe. What she said was so deep. Lily would remember to keep that in mind.

Blair on the other hand... "Yeah right! You just want Zane for yourself! You're trying to get rid of me!" She gave Alexis the evil eye.

Alexis smiled nervously while Jenny giggled a little. "Zane, a little help here?" The fairy duelist asked.

"Blair, as flattered as I am by your affections, right now I'm only in love with one thing: dueling."

"Dueling?" Blair asked as Zane took something out of his pocket.

He took her hand and placed the barrette she had lost in his room into her palm. "I'm sorry, but it's time for you to go home." Lily noticed the sad look on Blair's face and approached her to comfort her.

"Wait, why does she have to go home?" Jaden stepped in. "Cuz you said so? Hello! She's a student here at Duel Academy and a good one!"

"Jaden, she has to go home."

"Oh... I see what you're doing here, Zane. You're pushing her out _because_ she's a good student." He then smiled. "Because she might dethrone you." Everyone except Zane chuckled at this.

Lily decided to break the ice and raised her hand to get his attention. "Actually, me and Blair has to go home because we're in second grade."

"Uh, say whaaat?" Jaden's whole body turned white.

"In second grade!" Syrus and Chumley exclaimed.

"Yeah, me and Shiori reacted similarly when we learned about Lily's age." Matt said while scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, so then you're saying, that I almost got beat by a girl who's only 8 years old!?" Jaden asked while holding his hand.

Blair stuck out her tongue playfully and smiled. "8 and a half if it makes you feel any better."

Jaden fell to the ground and laughed hysterically. "That's why dueling's so great! If you're old enough to draw, you're old enough to win!"

While the others watched the laughing Jaden, Lily walked up to Andrew and tugged his sleeve. "Hey, Andrew."

"Hm?"

Lily picked up her deck, looked through it and picked up one of her cards, and held it up. "I want you to have this."

Andrew widened his eyes as he took the card. He looked at it, and recognized it as Doomcaliber Knight. "Thanks, but why give it to me?"

Lily smiled. "Just something to remember me with."

Andrew blinked before he chuckled. "I see. Then I promise to take good care of it."

The pink-haired girl laughed.

* * *

The next day, they all stood at the docks to watch Blair and Lily leave on a boat. "Goodbye you guys!" Lily called out, waving to them.

"I'll be back just as soon as I finish grade school, and middle school too. But I'll be back, you guys!" Blair called out.

Jaden laughed. "Hear that, Zane?"

"Oh please, I'll be long gone by the time she gets here."

"That's true. I guess Blair's crush ends right here."

"I wouldn't be so sure…" Zane said.

"Goodbye Jaden, my sweet prince! I love you!" Blair called out, making Jaden really shocked.

"What!? Wait, she's supposed to like Zane." Jaden said turning to Alexis.

"She _does_ like Zane, but apparently she _loves_ you." She replied while Jenny giggled at this.

"I guess Lily is the only girl who learned her lesson." Andrew commented, also amused by Jaden's situation.

"Good luck." Zane said as he walked away.

Syrus and Chumley followed him. "Hey, Chumley, wanna get some new cards?"

"Yeah, I got one in mind."

"Just do me a favor fellas and stay away from the girls in _my_ deck." Alexis said as she followed suit.

"Mine too." Jenny added.

"And you better not ogling my cards." Shiori warned them.

"Or mine." Matt added.

"It certainly is a lot love in the air." Andrew muttered as he and the others walked away, leaving Jaden alone at the docks.

"I'll see you soon! Write me everyday! I love you Jaden sweetie!" Blair called out still waving at him. Lily giggled at her friend's affection.

Jaden wasn't so pleased though. "I wish they made cards to counter this." He complained while waving to her.

* * *

 **And finally done. I hope you loved this. Even as much as Blair loves Jaden? ^-^ Until next time.**


	27. Chapter 27

**The Duel Off: Part 1 - Intelligence VS Instinct**

Another sunny day at Duel Academy, and nothing crazy was happening... for the moment. Down at the docks, a bunch of workmen were unloading boxes from a boat, under the supervision of Ms. Dorothy. "Keep it moving fellas, keep it moving! Booster packs go there, starter decks go there!" She said as she directed them. She was about to yell something out again, but stopped herself when she heard something from the water. She turned and looked down at the waves that crashed along the side below. She could've sworn that she heard something, but that must have been her imagination. "Let's go!" She snapped at the workers. "This isn't break time! Move it, move it, move it!"

Since Ms. Dorothy was focusing on the workers, she failed to notice a shadow moving underneath the waves. The figure made its way past the docks and towards a bed of rocks. It then reached the surface and climbed the nearest rock. The figure was a tall man with long, dark hair tied in a ponytail and wearing a wetsuit. He pulled off his snorkel and looked up towards the building that occupied the center of the island. "There it is." He said smiling. "The scoop of a life time, Duel Academy. Now, let's go and see what kind of dirt I can dig up, of the story that will make me my fortune."

* * *

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?" Crowler cried out as he slammed his hands on an oval table where he, Banner, Chancellor Sheppard and other faculty members were sitting at. Apparently, they currently were having a meeting. Zane was also there, standing aside. "The School Duel between Duel Academy and North Academy is the biggest match of the year! We can take no chances. So, it's _clear_ that Zane must be our rep."

"Zane is our best," Sheppard agreed. "But he's a third year student. North Academy is using a first year."

"Why would they do that?" Crowler asked.

"Who knows? But in the spirit of competition, I think _we_ should use a first year student as well." Sheppard turned to Zane. "You understand, don't you Zane?"

"Of course, Chancellor."

He chuckled a little. "Well then, the only question is who this first year will be."

Zane closed his eyes. "Jaden Yuki."

Crowler cringed at the idea, while Sheppard looked at Zane curiously.

"I agree, Jaden is our best new student." Banner said, then looked at his cat. "Don't you think?"

Pharaoh only meowed in response.

"Oh well, if the cat says so." Crowler said.

"Chancellor." Zane turned to the Headmaster. "Jaden will make Duel Academy proud, trust me."

"Well then, that's that... unless someone has a better idea." Sheppard looked at his colleagues.

"Well, Chancellor…" Someone spoke up in a spanish accent. The Chancellor turned to a black-haired man who was wearing an uniform similar to the Ra Yellow students. He even looked of Spanish descent. "I have another potential student in mind. And that student is Señor Andrew Wilson."

"From your dorm, Professor Sartyr?" Sheppard asked curiously.

"Yes, Señor Wilson was good enough to promote from Slifer Red to Ra Yellow. I think he deserves a chance for the spot."

"Well, that's true." Banner agreed. "He may not have been in my dorm as long as others, but I've seen how good he is in dueling."

Sheppard nodded. "Well then, unless someone else has a better idea, then Andrew and Jaden will duel for the right to represent."

Crowler was seething with rage at the thought of Jaden representing Duel Academy in the School Duel. _'Jaden Yuki... that Slifer Slacker! Everytime he does well, he makes me look bad. And Andrew. The thought of someone with a deck similar to him makes me sick! There has got to be someone else…'_ It was then a thought crossed his mind, making him smile. "Wait, I have it. Bastion Misawa! He should represent us!"

"Bastion, you say?" Sheppard asked.

"Yes," Crowler climbed onto the table and crawled his way toward the Chancellor. "He's far more qualified and he tested higher than any other first year. It's only fair, Chancellor."

"Well, how about a three way duel off, then? Each student will duel the other once. The one with most victories will be our rep." Zane gave a small nod at this. "Ok, then it's settled."

* * *

After infiltrating the building, the man from the ocean snuck through the halls and entered one of the locker rooms. He opened the first unlocked locker he could find and took out an uniform. "I gotta blend in." He said smiling, looking at the Slifer Red uniform he found.

* * *

"For real?"

Banner nodded as he heard Jaden's reply to the news he told his class. "That's right. You, Bastion and Andrew will duel each other for the right to represent Duel Academy in the School Duel. The first match will be between you and Bastion. The second match will be between Bastion and Andrew. And the third match will be between you and Andrew. The one with most victories will represent Duel Academy in the School Duel against North Academy." Jaden turned around and looked up at Andrew, who was sitting at row in front of Bastion. He gave both of them a smile, which they returned. "I look forward to exciting matches."

After he dismissed the class, most of the students left, while Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Matt, Andrew, Shiori and Bastion stayed behind.

"Alright Jaden!" Syrus said. "You might actually be in the School Duel."

"No Slifer's ever been there." Chumley added. "You'd make Duel Academy history!"

"I just wish I was chosen." Matt said.

Jaden laughed a little until Andrew, Shiori and Bastion approached them. "Well guys. I guess may the best man win, huh?""

"Best deck." Bastion said. "And I assure you, Jaden, that deck will be mine. You see, I've been formulating a new set of cards to defeat you and your monsters ever since my duel with Chazz."

"You said you would. So it's finished?"

"Not yet. But it will be, Jaden. It will be soon." Bastion then turned to Andrew. "And I've been working on a deck to counter yours, Andrew."

Andrew smiled. "I look forward to see what you've come up with."

"Well, til then." Jaden said as he fist bumped with Bastion before the latter left the classroom.

"To think that Bastion designed two whole decks to defeat you two." Shiori said.

"I don't know if you should be really honored or really scared." Chumley added.

"Well guys, guess we'll find out when we throw down." Jaden said.

"And it's about time you and I face off." Andrew said smiling to him.

"Got that right! This is gonna be sweet!"

"Definitely. Now then, I'm off to the Ra dorm to prepare my deck. See you guys later."

"Yeah, see ya." At the Slifers and Ras went separate ways.

* * *

Meanwhile, the man who infiltrated the school building was walking through the hallway in the hope to get some information, wearing the Slifer jacket he found earlier. He noticed two Obelisk boys coming his way and smiled. "Hey, fellow duelists! What's shaking around here?"

"Out of the way, you Slifer Slime!" One of them pushed him away.

"But wait, I just." The man called to the Obelisks, but they ignored him.

At the same time, Jaden, Syrus, Chumley and Matt were going through the halls. They then noticed the man approaching a Ra Yellow student.

"Yo, how are you?" He greeted.

"Beat it, Slifer Sludge!" The Ra pushed him away and walked away.

"Wait!" The man called to him, but didn't get any response. "Man, why won't anyone talk to me?" He wondered.

"I don't remember seeing that guy before. He must be new." Syrus assumed.

"But when did he transfer here?" Matt wondered.

Jaden walked up to the man. "Hey, what's up?"

The man turned around to face him and laughed nervously.

"You're old." Jaden commented with a smile. "Really old. How could you be a Slifer?"

"I, uh…" The man tried to answer.

"Hey, it's cool." Jaden said, patting him on the right shoulder. "I mean…" He then shook hands with him. "So, it took you a while to get accepted here. Don't be ashamed. Let me show you around, Old Timer!" He then dragged the man away.

"Wait up!" Syrus called out as he and the others ran after them.

"Come on, Jaden, take it easy!" Matt added.

 _'Aw, not running.'_ Chumley complained internally.

* * *

After showing 'Old Timer' around the campus, the Slifers were now sitting in the Slifer cafeteria and eating dinner. The man was staring at his tray of food, wondering if it was even edible. The others were enjoying their meals, with Jaden's chopsticks zooming back and forth between his mouth and tray. "Delish!" He said. "You better hurry up and finish, or you won't be able to get seconds!"

"Seconds?" The 'old timer' parroted.

"…Or thirds." Jaden continued, still going at the food.

"And sometimes fourths." Syrus added. "They were gonna install a garbage disposal, but Jaden solved that problem."

"I see. Well then..." The man replied as finally decided to dig in.

While eating his own meal, Matt stared at the man cautiously. _'There is something off with that guy, but I don't know what.'_ He thought.

* * *

After they were all finished, they went up to their room, along with the new guy. Even Matt came along with them. Jaden had his cards spread out along the floor so he could prepare his deck.

"Whoa, your deck's looking good, Jaden." Syrus commented. "Still, I wonder what kind of deck Bastion's gonna have."

"Dunno, but it sounds like he put some major time and brain juice into it." Chumley said thoughtfully.

"Nervous?" Matt asked.

"No way. I'm excited! There." Jaden said putting his cards back together.

"Excited?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah, for a sweet challenge. My cards are up for it."

"You never worry." Syrus commented at Jaden's cheerful mood.

"Yeah." Chumley agreed.

 _'And I'll never get my story by hanging out with these twerps.'_ The 'old timer' thought frustrated. He noticed a card on the floor. He picked it up and looked at it. _'Skyscraper. The card that ruined dueling for me.'_ He thought as he remembered the last time he ever dueled. A duel that he lost miserably. Just thinking about it made him so mad.

"Hey. You cool, Old Timer?" Jaden asked.

"Stop it with that! My name is Gerard!" He snapped at Jaden, but then realized what he just did. _'I told them my real name!'_ Gerard berated himself.

"Cool, Gerard it is." Jaden said, unaware of Gerard's panicked expression. He then noticed the card he was holding. "Hey, Skyscraper. You like that card too?"

Gerard scoffed and looked away. "No way. You'd have to like dueling first."

"Oh really?" Matt asked, still suspecting him. "If you don't like dueling, what are you doing here?"

"Oh! Well, uh…" Gerard started to panic again. "I just mean... I don't like it cuz I'm not good at it."

"Same here." Chumley replied. "I mean, it's not that I don't like dueling, it's just that I'm not really all that good at it. But that's changing."

"Sure is." Jaden said.

"Yeah. See, once I started hanging out with these guys, I saw how they duel and it totally changed my life."

"That's it!" Syrus said. "Gerard, maybe if you watch Jaden duel, you'll start to like dueling more, like Chumley. The perfect matches is coming up, his duels with Bastion and Andrew."

"Sure, we'll see." Gerard said, but then looked away as he thought… _'Please, I'm done with dueling. These kids should just mind their own_ _business.'_ But then he got an idea. _'Wait! Seeing as they like to pry, maybe they can help me with my story.'_ He then turned back to them. "So... you guys, I was just wondering. Do you know anything about a rumor floating around where kids here go missing?"

"Does he mean the abandoned dorm?" Jaden wondered.

"Abandoned dorm?" Gerard asked interested.

"Yeah. See, we kinda wandered it inside once…" Jaden smiled nervously. "...Uh, very strange place."

Gerard smiled as he finally learned something to look at. "I see. Well, I think I'll just take a walk outside." He then took his leave.

Matt eyed him. _'I don't like this.'_ he thought. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to turn in for the night." He said as he got up.

"Okay, see ya tomorrow." Jaden said as he and the others waved to the flip duelist who left the dorm room.

But what they didn't know was that Matt went Gerard who made his way to the forest. _'What could that guy be after. I mean, from what the guys told me, entering that dorm is dangerous.'_

* * *

Andrew was currently in his dorm room, going through his deck. Shiori was there with him.

"Your deck is looking good." He said. "But I wonder what Bastion has in store for you."

"That's hard to tell." Andrew replied while taking out some cards from his deck to see what he should replace. "But I better add some new tactics of my own if he's going to prepare a deck designed to counter mine."

Shiori smiled. "It's not the first time someone would try to counter your deck. I mean, if you could survive Jenny's counter strategies, you should have a chance to handle Bastion's tactics."

Andrew smiled. "Well, we're about to see how well I'll do against him." He then looked at one card he took from the wooden box where he kept all his leftover cards. _'This one should be useful.'_

* * *

As usual, in the middle of the night, Alexis stood in front of the abandoned dorm and placed a rose near the gate. Jenny was there with her.

"Be at peace brother, wherever you are." The blonde girl said. "Take care."

"Don't worry Alexis. I'm sure you'll see him again soon enough." Jenny comforted her.

They both turned around when heard a rustling sound and spotted Gerard coming their way. "Why, hello there." He greeted.

"Hi. Do we know you?" Alexis asked.

"Uhh, yeah. I've seen you around. Look, I've heard some students have gone missing here. You two wouldn't happen to know anything about them, would you?"

Jenny scowled. "What's it to you?"

Gerard just smiled. "You know, I'm just curious is all…"

"Yeah, well you can stay curious." Alexis said with a fringe of anger in her voice. "Listen, those missing students aren't for your amusement. You ought to just mind your own business! Got it?"

"Calm down, Alexis." Jenny pulled her friend back. "Let's just leave him be." They then walked away, leaving a confused Gerard behind.

"Oookay. Don't know what her problem is, but I know this: I'm not giving up. I'm gonna get this story." He pulled out a small camera and took pictures. What he didn't know however was that Matt was hiding behind some bushes and watched him.

"What are you up to?" He muttered.

* * *

In the Ra Yellow dorm, Bastion was sitting in his dorm at his computer desk. he had several windows opened up with information about Jaden and Andrew's decks, styles of dueling and other stuff. He had been doing research on them for weeks, and was still trying to figure out how to defeat them.

"Countless equations. A myriad of theorems, yet still, I haven't quite solved the problems that are Jaden and Andrew's deck." He opened up with up a window showing images of Andrew's certain set of heroes. "Both decks consists the power of fusion, but there is one factor of Andrew's deck that makes a big difference: the Masked Heroes."

He clicked the mouse to make one of the images bigger. "The Divine Wind. A formidable creature. He keeps the opponent from attacking with more than one monster, and he allows his controller to draw a card after he destroys a monster. And on top of that, he's invincible in battle." He clicked the mouse to make another image bigger. "And then there's the Acid. When he's summoned to the field, he destroys all spells and traps on the opponent's field and also lower their monsters' attack strength by 300 points. Those Masked heroes won't be easy to stop. After all, all Andrew has to do is summon one hero, and then use one if his Mask Change cards to make a special summon."

It was then it hit him. "Wait a minute, special summon. I wonder…" He quickly typed in a few commands on his keyboard, making a few cards appear on the screen. "Aha! Yes. This should be perfect to stop his special summons. And this one could be useful as backup. Yes this will be perfect." He said with a satisfied look on his face.

"Now let's have a look at Jaden's cards." He said as he made the image of a familiar fusion monster appear. "Ah, the Flame Wingman. What a specimen. Whenever he destroys a monster, that monster's attack points are dealt to its owner's life points. In order stop him, I must stop Burstinatrix and Avian so they can't fuse." He then clicked the mouse making another image appear. "Of course, even if I do, there's still the Thunder Giant. He can destroy a monster with up to 2400 attack points as soon as he's summoned. To stop him, I'll need to take out Sparkman and Clayman before _they_ can fuse."

He leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head and eyes focused on the computer in front of him. _'Think Bastion, think!'_ He thought, deliberating on this. "I could use the cards I'd use against Andrew, but since the first match will be between me and Jaden, that would give him too much information. And if I tried to build a deck to counter Jaden's monsters separately, that would leave far too much to chance. There simply must be a better way to neutralize the threat, some strategy to stop those fusion monsters."

That's when an idea struck his mind.

"Wait a moment!" Once again, he typed in a few commands on his keyboard. "That's it! It's so obvious. With this, my victory is 100% assured."

* * *

"Alright guys, get your eat on!" Jaden declared as he and his roommates, plus Matt, were in the cafeteria and eating breakfast. The brunette was wolfing his meal like he usually was, while his friends ate with a touch more moderation. "This stuff is so good! The hard part... is remembering to chew... before you swallow." He said between his bites.

"That explains why we're missing so many forks!" Syrus exclaimed. "Look, just don't stuff yourself."

"What's your problem, Syrus?" Jaden asked.

"You've been very anti-lishus." Chumley added.

"Maybe so, but if Jaden's going to win today's matches, he's going need to be a lean, mean dueling machine. After all, Bastion's been training weeks for this matchup."

"And knowing Andrew, he's should be well-prepared as well." Matt added.

Syrus then looked toward Jaden. "And you trained what, an hour?"

"More like half." Jaden responded, making Syrus sweat drop while Matt shook his head.

Chumley laughed a little. "Minus the time we took for that food run."

"Look Sy, Bastion has his way to train, and I have mine."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Syrus then noticed that a certain someone was missing. "By the way, where did that guy Gerard go? I haven't seen him."

"Don't know but his lunch is mine."

Matt had a concerned look on his face. _'He's probably somewhere sneaking into other places for whatever bad thing he's up to.'_

* * *

At the same time, Chancellor Sheppard was in his office and had just finished his paperwork. He was about to leave when his phone suddenly rang. "Hm? Who could that be?" He picked it up and answered. "Hello?"

 _"Hello to yourself, Sheppard."_ A man's voice responded.

"Oh, hello there, Foster. Can I help you with something? I was on my way to watch a duel off."

 _"A duel off, you say?"_

"That's right. Me and the faculty members were discussing the School Duel and who our rep should be. Three of my potential students are about duel each other for the right to represent Duel Academy."

 _"Is that so?"_ Foster said interested. _"What a coincidence. I had some of my own students to duel each other as well, and the result is quite a problem."_

Sheppard narrowed his eyes. "Oh? And what kind of problem is that?"

 _"Well…"_

* * *

Later on, the students and the faculty members sat down in the main arena. Andrew and Shiori were sitting along with Syrus, Chumley and Matt. Jaden and Bastion were standing on the dueling platform facing each other, with Crowler standing between them with a microphone in hand. "It's time duelists... to find out... who will represent our most illustrious academy in the annual School Duel!" The crowd cheered at this. "And now, for the first of three duels. Introducing first, from the Ra dorm, Bastion Misawa!"

More cheers came as fellow Ras clapped the Intelligent Ra Yellow student.

"And then, from Slifer... some kid." Crowler finished, less enthusiastic with this introduction.

"Geez, he should show some respect." Shiori said.

"No joke." Andrew replied." I know that Crowler doesn't like Jaden, but he could at least give him a proper introduction."

"I can't say I'm surprised." Someone spoke up from behind. The group turned around to see Michael sitting at the row behind them.

"Oh, hey Michael." Syrus greeted.

"What's up?" He greeted back with a smile.

"Nice that you could join us." Andrew said before he turned his attention to the arena. "Still though, as much I'm looking forward to this match, I don't know who I'm supposed to root for."

"It's fine. No matter who wins, we should be glad that one of our friends, including you, gets to represent us." The dark duelist replied. "Besides, they wanted this duel for a while. And I'm curious what this 'foolproof plan' Bastion has in store for Jaden's deck is."

Andrew nodded. "That makes two of us."

On the field, Jaden gave his opponent a smile. "Here we go! Good luck Pal."

"I appreciate the sentiment. But with the deck I've prepared, I don't need luck."

"Yeah? We'll see about that."

"Go, Jaden!" Syrus cheered. "This is what you trained for, or didn't."

Above the seats, at the railing surrounding the stands, Zane walked over to Alexis and Jenny who were standing side by side. "It'll be instincts vs. intelligence here."

"I guess. Who cares?" Alexis said with a low, sour tone in her voice.

"Alexis?" Jenny looked at her friend.

"I mean yeah." She said with a more positive tone.

But Jenny knew better. She realized that Alexis was still upset about last night, when they met Gerard.

And speaking of Gerard, Matt was a little concerned about him. _'I wonder where he is. I couldn't find him anywhere earlier.'_

* * *

Gerard was in fact sneaking through the empty halls by himself. "Alright, while everyone's distracted with this duel, I'll be able to get more dirt on those missing kids." But he stopped for a moment when a few brief memories Jaden flash through his mind, to which he shook his head, to get rid of them. "And get that other kid Jaden, and this duel of his, out of my head!" He made his way through the hall until he came to the library. He snuck inside and sat down before one of the computers. After starting it up, he took out his portable computer, plugged it into the jack and let it work out the password.

* * *

"Now, without any further ado…!" Crowler announced.

"Get your game on!" Jaden called out.

"Let's duel!"

 **Jaden: 4000**

 **Bastion: 4000**

Crowler jumped off the platform after the duelists activated their duel disks.

"Alright, first move!" Bastion drew a card. "I summon Carboneddon in defense mode!" A gray, metallic dinosaur appeared on his field kneeling and crossing its arms for the guard. (ATK: 900 **DEF: 600** LV: 3) "That's all for now." He concluded.

"A brand new deck and Carboneddon is all you can bust out?" Jaden asked. "Hey, whatever works for ya. Now…!" He drew is next card. "I play Burstinatrix in attack mode." The red female fire hero appeared, looking ready to fight.

 _'Just one turn and already Jaden has half the equation to create his favorite monster, the Flame Wingman.'_ Bastion thought. "Off to a good start there."

"Yeah, sure am. And I've got news for you, it only gets better. Burstinatrix, attack!" As soon as the female hero's flame covered hand connected with the defending monster, it exploded into a plume of flame and smoke that soon blew away from Bastion. The Ra on the other hand was calm. "Next I'll throw down a facedown and call it a turn."

"You don't waste any time, I like that." Bastion remarked before drawing his next card. He smiled when he saw it. _'Here it is, the one card that will win me this duel. But first...'_  
"I'm going to summon Oxygeddon in attack mode!" The green pterodactyl made of oxygen let out a cry as it appeared. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 800 LV: 4) "And now, Oxygeddon, attack"

"Think again!" Jaden interrupted. "I've got a trap, Hero Barrier!" The card revealed itself. "With this card, if I have an Elemental HERO on the field, I can negate your monster's attack once." A barrier of bright blue light appeared between Oxygeddon and Burstinatrix, blocking a stream of air from the former's mouth. "Sorry Bastion, but Burstinatrix isn't busted just yet."

"Well played, Jaden. Of course, I'd expect no less." Bastion then glanced at the card he drew earlier. _'Still, when I activate this card, It won't matter how well you play.'_  
"I'll go ahead and place this facedown and that's all." He concluded.

"Alright then." Jaden drew his card. "I summon Elemental HERO Sparkman, in attack mode!" The blue and golden electric hero rose next to his fire based ally. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "And I activate the equip spell, Spark Blaster! And equip it on Sparkman!" A ball of electricity appeared in Sparkman's hand, which then turned into his personal weapon. "Now I can change the battle mode of any monster on the field, and the one I have set in Sparkman's sight... is Oxygeddon! Now he has to switch into defense mode." Sparkman fired a ball sparking energy, causing the wind based dinosaur to drop to the ground with its wings folded. "And now Burstinatrix can take him out! Go, Magma Comet!" The female hero conjured a fireball twice the size of her head and hurled it at the defending monster.

But when it made contact, the flames enveloped the dinosaur. "Whoops, looks like someone has forgotten their chemistry." Bastion said. "See, fire and oxygen, they don't mix, Jaden. So when Oxygeddon is destroyed in battle by a pyro type monster, it doesn't just take a toll on my life points, but on yours as well." The monster then exploded in a blast of fire which swept across both ends of the field.

 **Jaden: 4000-3200**

 **Bastion: 4000-3200**

"Sweet move." Jaden commented. "Your monster's ability cost us both there. But I'd do it all over again. Know why? Cuz now your field's empty, which means my Sparkman can attack you directly!" The hero in question fired a stream of electricity from his empty hand at Bastion.

 **Bastion: 3200-1600**

"Nicely played." Andrew commented.

"Great." Michael added.

"Zane was right about that boy." Sheppard commented, turning to Banner. "He's quite a duelist."

The Slifer Headmaster smiled. "It's true. We teach those Slifers well, when they don't ditch class."

Crowler wasn't pleased by this. Frankly, he was panicking as he ruffled his hair wildly. _'Why did I open my big mouth and nominate Bastion for this event!? He's getting creamed, I'm getting humiliated, and worst of all, Jaden is looking better than ever!'_

"Hey, sorry there, Bastion." Jaden smiled. "Guess it's back to the drawing board if you want to beat my deck."

Bastion smiled in return. "No Jaden, I think not. You see, I've already beaten it. Now it's simply a matter of showing all of my work."  
 _'And a matter of getting Jaden to use the card that will let me enact my master plan.'_ He thought.  
"Now then, let's get back into the fray, shall we? It's my turn." He drew his next card. "And I'm going to summon Hydrogeddon in attack mode." A geyser of brown water erupted on Bastion's field, from which emerged the watery dinosaur. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "Now, Hydrogeddon, attack Burstinatrix!" The dinosaur shot a blast of muddy water from its mouth which struck and destroyed the female hero.

 **Jaden: 3200-2800**

"Next I'll activate Hydrogeddon's ability. You see, whenever he destroys a monster in battle, he allows me to summon another Hydrogeddon. And I happen to have one right here in my deck." From another water geyser, a copy of the water emerged. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "And now I'll play an equip spell from my hand, Living Fossil. I can now summon one monster from my graveyard, so long as I equip it with this. And the monster I'll bring back is, Oxygeddon. Rise again old friend!" The wind based pterodactyl reappeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 800 LV: 4) "Of course, Fossil lowers his attack points and cancels his special ability." ( **ATK: 1800-800** ) "But it's worth it."

"Yeah, now he's got three monsters." Syrus pointed out.

"And a strange smirk." Chumley added.

"Bastion's up to something." Matt said.

"And it's definitely something big." Shiori replied.

"Now it get good." Bastion took another card from his hand. "I activate the spell card, Bonding H2O! You see Jaden, when I bond two Hydrogeddons and one Oxygeedon, they do the exact same thing that two hydrogen bonded with one oxygen do, they become water. Or in this case…" The three monsters swirled around each other. "The all powerful Water Dragon!" They then become one and the formed the big serpentine dragon, whose body was made of water. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 2600 LV: 8)

"That's not good." Jaden commented.

"Incredible." Syrus said.

"Where's the bathroom?" Chumley asked.

"Dude, this isn't time for a bathroom break." Michael said.

"Great, now I have the need to go too." Shiori complained.

"That's one impressive monster." Sheppard remarked.

"Yes, and one impressive move." Banner agreed. "Aye, this will be tough."

And now, Crowler was laughing, being pleased by this twist. "I knew it was a good idea for me to nominate Bastion for this event. He's looking magnificent, I'm looking brilliant, and best of all, Jaden looks like a complete fool."

"It's your move now, Jaden." Bastion said. _'And if you plan to take on my Water Dragon, there's only one move you can make. And it's the one I've been waiting for.'_

"How's Jaden gonna take down that thing? His Sparkman doesn't have nearly enough attack points." Syrus pointed out.

"Jaden is always able to make a comeback when he's in a tight spot. He'll think of something." Andrew said. But he had a concerned look on his face. _'Of course, Bastion must be planning to do something with his facedown card. Ever since he placed it on the field during his_ _second turn, he hasn't activated it. I have a feeling that he's waiting for Jaden to do a certain thing.'_

"Well Bastion, it's like they always say; when the going gets tough, the tough get going. So here I go!" Jaden drew a card and looked at it. "Sweet! Alright, you got one of your best monsters out, so allow me to summon on up one of mine. Now I may not know as much chemistry as you do, but I can still mix it up. Avian and Bubbleman, get ready to merge with Sparkman to create the one and only Elemental HERO Tempest!" The green, feather winged hero, along with the blue-armored water warrior appeared on Sparkman's side. "Alrighty, fuse!" And the image of Polymerization appeared...

"I don't think so, Jaden!" Bastion interrupted, surprising his opponent. "Go, trap card! Cursed Seal of the Forbidden Spell!" His facedown card flipped up. "Now, by discarding one spell card from my hand, I can negate your spell card and destroy it." He placed one card on the tray, and Jaden's spell card glowed before it disappeared. "And... you can no longer use the spell card that was destroyed by this effect for the remainder of the duel."

"Wait, I can't use Polymerization anymore!?" Jaden asked, completely shocked.

"I'm afraid not." Bastion folded his arms. "Which essentially means you can't use any of your fusion monsters either. No Flame Wingman, no Thunder Giant. None of them."

"No fusions?" Syrus asked disbelieved. "But that's how Jaden win _all_ his duels!"

"And if Bastion can think of something like this to counter Jaden's deck, that makes me wonder how he's going to counter my deck." Andrew added.

"Compute it any which way you like, but the answer will always come out the same." Bastion said confidently. "This duel's over, you can't win."

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the library, Gerard sat at his computer impatiently, still trying to crack the password. "If I can just crack this password, I'll be able to access all of Duel Academy's student files." He murmured. This was frustrating for him, but then, computer finally made a positive sound as the right password came up. "Got it." He said with a smile. The screen changed and showed him images of the three Egyptian gods: Obelisk the Tormentor, The Winged Dragon of Ra and Slifer the Sky Dragon.

The screen then changed again and showed images of Duel Monsters cards. Only, they weren't really cards. Some of them were showing the backside, while the others showed Gerard images of different Duel Academy students. He clicked one of them, showing an Obelisk Blue boy, whose brown hair had a similar style like Alexis. "Atticus Rhodes. Studying abroad on special sabbatical." He then looked at the other images. "And this one's gone too... and so is this one… and him... and her…" He scratched his head. "Bu there's no forwarding address. I don't buy it. These must be the missing students, and the academy must be trying to cover it up. I smell a front page scandal, plus a major pay day for the reporter who breaks the story. Thanks for the scoop, Due Academy and good luck surviving all the bad publicity." He said as he laughed a little. If he payed attention, he would've seen one small monitor on his right, showing the duel off between Bastion and Jaden.

* * *

Speaking of which, Jaden had just placed Elemental HERO Avian in defense mode. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1000** LV: 3) Bastion was standing on his side of the field with a confident look on his face. "Face it Jaden, with your fusion monsters neutralized, and my Water Dragon about to strike, you and your monsters are about to be all washed up."

"I can't watch." Syrus moaned.

"It's not all bad. Jaden still has more life points." Chumley pointed out.

"That maybe, but Bastion's got a lock on him." Shiori said. "This won't be easy for Jaden."

"True, but he's not going down without a fight." Andrew replied. Michael nodded in agreement.

 _'Come on, Jaden.'_ Alexis thought worriedly. "Fight back."

"Well, perhaps we underestimated Bastion." Zane smiled. "He's been playing this like a pro. After all, with just one card, he's all but disarmed Jaden's deck."

"Come on, he's just taking away Jaden's ability to use fusion monsters, that's all." Alexis retorted.

"But that might be enough." Jenny said. "Fusion monsters are how Jaden wins all his duels. The Elemental Heroes are mainly used with fusions, after all."

Meanwhile, Crowler was more than happy. He pounded the platform, smiling. "That's it Bastion! Show this Slifer Slacking Sludge who's boss! Show him he doesn't belong in the School Duel!" He cheered.

"My, Pharaoh. This does not look good." Banner said, petting his cat.

"My go, and I'm gonna switch Sparkman to defense mode. And I'll leave it at that." Jaden concluded as the electric hero crouched down.

"Not much to do when you've been stripped of the ability to use your favorite monsters, eh Jaden?" Bastion asked.

"Wrong , there's loads to do, like finding a new plan. It'll be tough, but I'm up for it. And then Bastion, it'll be all the sweeter, when I win!"

Bastion smiled. "Yes, when you win. Well, we have nothing if not our dreams I suppose, however farfetched. Now then, let's get on with this duel, shall we Jaden? I draw." He drew his next card. "I play the Mathematician in attack mode!" A short man in scholar robes, a pair of thick glasses, a long white beard and a staff appeared on Bastion's field. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 500 LV: 3) "You see, when this is summoned, I must send one card from my deck to the grave" He explained while placing a card from the top of his deck to the graveyard. "But then, if Mathematician happens to be destroyed in battle, I can take a card from my deck and add it to my hand." He glanced at his graveyard slot. "Of course, none of hat is pressing right this moment, what with my Water Dragon about to surge into action!" The watery serpentine dragon spat out a stream of water that crushed Sparkman. "And now, Mathematician attacks your hero Avian! Number Cruncher!" The old man shot a purple beam of numbers and variables at the defending hero and destroyed him.

"Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse." Syrus said.

"Jaden's wide open now." Matt muttered.

* * *

Gerard was walking through the hallway, satisfied with his work. _'Now that I have records of those missing students, I'll be able to sell my story for a fortune, Sure, the scandal will probably ruin Duel Academy, but, oh well…'_

* * *

 **Flashback**

"You're old…"

Jaden patted Gerard's shoulder. "Hey, it's cool."

"You good, Old Timer?"

"Stop it with that!"

"Hey, Skyscraper. You like that card too?"

 **Flashback end**

* * *

Gerard shook his head. _'That kid. Why can't I just forget about him?'_ He thought before his attention was caught by cheers coming from the arena. He walked through the entry way, looked around and caught the sight of the Water Dragon on Bastion's field and Jaden with his field empty. "How about that? It's one of those duels those Slifers wanted me to come and see. Where my life was supposed to change. And look, it seems Jaden is losing."

"Well, my turn's done, Jaden." Bastion declared. "So, if you still plan on beating me, feel free to go ahead and do your worst."

The Slifer grinned. "You bet I will. Cuz my duel's just started."

"Is it?"

"Yep. You see, we're different. You make all your moves at home, I do mine on the field."

"That's right!" Syrus said.

"Yeah, Jaden plays with his gut." Chumley added.

"Kinda like how you think with yours." Michael said jokingly.

"Alright, where were we?" Jaden drew his next. "First, I'm gonna summon Hero Bubbleman in... attack mode." The blue-armored water hero came to the field, cape flowing behind him. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Now, when I summon Bubbleman, if I have no other cards out, that's a good thing. Know why? Cuz it means I can draw two cards." He reached down and drew. "And one of them I'll play right now. The equip spell, Bubble Blaster!" The water hero kneeled down as his bazooka appeared on his shoulder. "This lets Bubbleman gain 800 attack points. ( **ATK: 800-1600** ) "And now, Bubbleman attack!" He fired off a stream of bubbles that blew up on contact with the old man.

 **Bastion: 1600-1500**

"Well played, but since you destroyed Mathematician, his ability activates, allowing me to draw one card." Bastion took his new card from the deck.

"Yeah yeah, but it's still my turn. And I'm gonna throw down two facedowns. Next, I'm gonna play the spell card, Mirage of Nightmare. And then I'll call it a turn." Jaden finished up. "You see, I'm no one-trick pony. You take away my fusion monsters, and well, I'll just come right back at you with something else. Cuz it's not about the fusing, Bastion, it's about the monsters. And mine are still rearing to go."

"I'm sure, but the fact of the matter is Jaden, your most powerful monsters are not. When will you accept that dueling is nothing more than a numbers game? A numbers game that I have calculated effectively and you have not. Your defeat is imminent Jaden. Now, My draw." Bastion drew.

"And with it, the effect of my spell Mirage of Nightmare activates." The spell card in question glowed. "Cuz of this card's effect, during your standby phase, I'm allowed to draw, and keep drawing until I have four cards." He explained while drawing his extra cards. "And now I reveal my facedown card, Emergency Provisions. Now allow me to explain how it works, Bastion. By sending one spell or trap on my field to the grave, I gain a thousand life points. So adios, Mirage of Nightmare." The named card disappeared.

 **Jaden: 2800-3800**

"Not a bad move." Gerard commented. "I mean, first he plays Mirage, then ditches it before it hurts him." When he realized what he said, he rubbed his head. "Not... not that I care about this duel or anything. Anyway…" He turned around to leave, but stopped and turned back.

"Quite Impressive." Zane said. "He switched his strategy and he's still playing well."

"Yeah, but, can he keep it up?" Alexis wondered.

"We'll just have to wait and see." Jenny added.

"You're simply postponing the inevitable." Bastion said. "Your deck's problem that's already been solved."

"You're wrong!" Jaden retorted.

"Perhaps this will convince you then!" bastion began his turn. "I activate the spell card Pot of Greed from my hand. Due to its effect, I draw two cards." He paused, drawing the two cards, and placing Pot of greed into his graveyard slot. "Furthermore, there are now ten cards stacked above Carboneddon in the graveyard, but he can handle the pressure. In fact, he thrives on it. Because now, due to the immense gravitational force on Carboneddon, he changes into a diamond. And that lets me activate his special effect. By removing this card from play, I can now summon Hyozanryu the diamond dragon!" A majestic diamond blue dragon with a bright yellow underbelly, claws and horns descended on the field. ( **ATK: 2100** DEF: 2800 LV: 8)

"That's an impressive dragon." Andrew said.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised by how scientific Bastion's deck is." Shiori added.

"Now, Hyozanryo, attack Bubbleman! Diamond Devastator!" Bastion's dragon screeched and fired a stream of diamond shards. The attack was only able to destroy Bubbleman's weapon. ( **ATK: 1600-800** )

"Whoopsie Bastion. When a monster with Bubble Blaster is beaten in battle, it's the blaster that gets destroyed, not the monster."

Bastion just smiled. "But now that your blaster's gone... what will protect him from the Water Dragon? Tidal Blast!" The serpentine dragon spat another stream of water, washed over the water hero, taking away a lot of Jaden's life points.

 **Jaden: 3800-1800**

"Aw man." Syrus groaned

"Go trap card, Hero Signal!" His facedown card flipped up, flashing a light into the sky, showing a big bold 'H'. "This activates when one of my monsters is destroyed. Now Bastion, I can summon a monster with 'Elemental HERO' in its name from my deck or from my hand. And I choose Elemental HERO Clayman!" The stone warrior rose on Jaden's field. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 2000 LV: 4)

"My, you just won't give up, will you Jaden? You certainly are one stubborn duelist."

"Thanks Bastion. At least, I think that was a compliment."

"I'll end my turn with a facedown." Bastion concluded.

Gerard stared at the duelists. "This is really getting good. I forgot how much fun dueling could be."

"Here goes!" Jaden drew his card and inserted it into his duel disk. "I activate spell, The Warrior Returning Alive! With this card's effect, I can take one warrior type monster from my grave and add it straight to my hand. And I'll pick Bubbleman and summon him to the field." The blue water hero appeared again. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Then I activate the spell card Bubble Shuffle. With this I can change Bubbleman and one of your monsters from attack mode to defense mode."

Bastion gritted his teeth as his Water Dragon lowered itself, while Bubbleman kneeled down and crossed his arms.

"Oh, then if I sacrifice Bubbleman while he's in defense mode, I'm allowed to summon any monster with 'Elemental HERO' in its name from my hand. And guess what Bastion. That's exactly what I'm gonna do. Bubbleman, move over for, Elemental HERO Bladedge!" The water hero was replaced by the hero in golden armor. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 1800 LV: 7)

Zane smiled, folding his arms. "Those fusion monsters may be Jaden's best, but that thing is a close second."

"And this should be a close match-up." Alexis added.

"Not to mention it gets more exciting." Jenny said.

"Aw Jaden, what are you doing? That Bladedge only has 2600 attack points! That's not enough to beat that Water Dragon!" Syrus pointed out.

"He's right." Chumley added.

"That maybe. But knowing Jaden, he should be able to change that." Andrew said smiling.

"Got that right." Jaden said. "Cuz I've got this, the field spell, Skyscraper!" He placed the named card in the field spell tray, making a bunch of skyscrapers appear.

Gerard watched in shock, remembering the last time he ever dueled.

"Now when a monster with 'Elemental HERO' in its name battles, if it has less attack points than your monster, it gains a thousand attack points." Bladedge was powered up. ( **ATK: 2600-3600** ) "So go, Bladedge. Attack Water Dragon with Slice and Dice Attack!" Jet like wings extended from the gold hero's back and he flew across the field. He then sliced the dragon's neck with his arm-blade. "Now Bladedge's ability activates. See, if he attacks a monster in defense mode and has more attack points than your monster's defense points, well then, the difference is directly dealt to you as damage."

 **Bastion: 1500-0500**

"Well, my dragon has a special ability too. For you see Jaden, when Water Dragon's destroyed, I can summon one Oxygeddon and two Hydrogeddons from my graveyard." The three named dinosaurs appeared in defense mode. (ATK: 1800 **DEF: 800** LV: 4) (ATK: 1600 **DEF: 1000** LV: 4) x2 "Next I activate the trap card, Last Magnet" Bastion's facedown card flipped up. "This activates whenever one of my monsters is destroyed. Then it equips on to the monster that was responsible for the destruction and causes it to lose 800 attack points." A huge round magnet fell from the sky and landed hard on Bladedge's shoulders, forcing him to carry it. ( **ATK: 2600-1800** )

Jaden gritted his teeth. "Yeah? Well, Clayman can still clobber a peak performance, especially with Skyscraper still out on the field. ( **ATK: 800-1800** ) "Now, attack Oxygeddon with Clay Clobberer!" The stone warrior dashed forward and slugged the pterodactyl really hard.

People around them let out waves and waves of murmurs.

"Oh wow, this is one very lishus duel." Chumley commented.

"And it's not slowing down." Syrus added.

"No kidding. Jaden is starting to heat things up a bit." Matt said.

"Yeah. Really cool." Michael replied.

"Good show, Jaden." Bastion praised.

"I do what I can." Jaden replied.

Gerard was still shocked upon seeing the field spell in play. "Skyscraper, the card that ruined me. The card that made me put down my deck for good." He muttered.

"Alright, it's my turn." Bastion drew his next card. "From my hand, I activate the spell Litmus Doom Ritual!" A dark portal opened up from the ground, from which rose a metal structure with electricity coursing between two pieces. "Now, from my field and hand, I must sacrifice a total of 8 stars worth of monsters, and then I can summon Litmus Doom Swordsman!" A light emerged from the structure and when it subsided, the two Hydrogeddons where gone. And in there place, was a man dressed in a tunic with a red cape and an unusual yellow hat, carrying two swords in his hands. ( **ATK: 0** DEF: 0 LV: 8)

"But he has zero attack points!" Syrus pointed out.

"Attack points aren't everything, Syrus." Andrew responded.

"He's right." Shior added. "Trust me, that's one of the toughest ritual monsters you've ever seen."

"Doom Swordsman isn't affected by traps, nor can he be destroyed in battle." bastion explained. "Essentially, he's invincible. Also, when there happens to be a trap card out on the field, just as Last Magnet is right now, his attack and defense points become 3000." A red aura seeped from the magnet Bladedge was holding and was absorbed by the swordsman. ( **ATK: 0-3000** DEF: 0-3000) "So now, Litmus Doom Swordsman, give Bladedge a taste of _your_ steel!" The ritual monster dashed at the golden hero, swiping his swords at him in rapid succession.

 **Jaden: 1800-1600**

With Bladedge gone, the trap card was destroyed. ( **ATK: 3000-0** DEF: 3000-0) "Well done. Now Hyozanryu, make me just as proud and attack Clayman! Diamond Devastator!" The blue dragon fired another stream of diamond shards which beat down the stone hero.

 **Jaden: 1600-1300**

"There's more. Next I play from my hand, the mighty spell card, A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon!" Bastion held up a card. "Now, by returning one level 5 or above dragon type monster on my field back to my hand, all spell and trap cards on the field are destroyed, which means Skyscraper is now demolished!"

Jaden watched in dismay as the tall buildings disappeared.

"Finally, I'll end with a facedown." Bastion inserted another card.

"Aw man, this is bad. Jaden's lost his monsters and his field spell card! He's defenseless out there!"

"And while Bastion has a powerful monster on his side." Michael added. "I wonder how Jaden is going to get out of this situation."

"It depends on what he's going to draw during his next turn." Andrew said. "All we know is that this is his last chance."

Jaden looked at his opponent for a moment, and then smiled. "Well I'll tell you, Bastion, I don't think I've ever had a more fun duel."

"Glad you think so!" Syrus yelled angrily

"I've enjoyed it as well, Jaden. And will continue to, especially when I beat you."

"Actually, I'm ending this now! Here goes!" Jaden said, drawing his card. He looked at it and then… "Sweetness! I'm gonna summon a new Elemental HERO. And here he is, Elemental HERO Wildheart!" A dark-skinned, muscled man in a loincloth appeared on the field with a giant sword on his back. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1600 LV: 4)

That's brand new." Matt said in amazement.

"But that can't possibly be enough to turn this around." Shiori added.

Andrew stared at the hero with interest. _'Or is it?'_

"New one?" Bastion smiled. "Well he won't make much of an impression. I'm activating a trap, Spirit Barrier!" His facedown card revealed itself. "Now, as long as I have monster on the field, Spirit Barrier will change any battle damage done to zero."

"Nu-huh! Traps don't work on Wildheart." Jaden countered.

"Is that so?, Well, I suppose it's a good thing that they still work on my Swordsman then." The ritual monster glowed from the trap card. "Remember, when a trap card's out, his attack points go up." ( **ATK: 0-3000** DEF: 0-3000)

"They sure do." Syrus said. "All the way to 3000. Not good."

"Nah it's all good, cuz I play Cyclone Boomerang! And I'll equip this spell card on Wildheart, raising his attack points by 500!" A large twister appeared on the field and weaved its way to the new hero. As it approached, it slowly disappeared and revealed a large wooden boomerang spinning around and around before Wildheart grabbed it. ( **ATK: 1500-2000** )

"But so what?" Syrus spoke up. "He's still short a thousand."

"Yeah, what gives?" Chumley asked.

"Something very good, that's what." Andrew said with a smile.

Shiori, Matt and Michael looked at him confused. "What do you mean?" The dark duelist asked.

Bastion stared at Jaden's monster for short time, before he widened his eyes and realized what was about to happen.

"You'll see what gives, when this boomerang makes its return trip!" Wildheart shouted and tossed his boomerang, making it spin along the ground, aimed at the swordsman. But, before it made contact, a transparent barrier appeared and blocked it. As result, it flew back to its owner, hitting him hard.

 **Jaden: 1300-0300**

After the explosion, Jaden looked through the smoke. "Perfect! Now I play Boomerang's effect. You see, when this card and the monster it was equipped to are sent to the graveyard, all spell and trap cards on the field are automatically destroyed and then, for every one destroyed, you take 500 points of damage!"

Bastion gasped as the Spirit Barrier shattered and then covered his head as the shards rained down upon him.

 **Bastion: 0500-0000**

Cheers erupted around them as the holograms disappeared.

"Well, Jaden won." Jenny said, being impressed.

"I guess when it came to Jaden Yuki, Bastion miscalculated." Zane mused.

"I guess, or maybe some strategies you just can't solve…" Alexis said.

"HE DID IT! WAY TO GO, JADEN!"

And then she, along with Jenny, looked down to see Gerard at the entrance, cheering for Jaden's victory.

"Oh, what a duel!" He widened his eyes when realized what he did, but then smiled and calmed down. "Thanks Jaden." He then walked away.

"Hey!" Alexis called out as she and Jenny ran after him.

Meanwhile, Crowler was extremely bothered by Jaden's victory, as he slowly sank to the floor. "Ugh, does this slacker ever lose?"

Sheppard stood up. "The winner of the first match is Jaden Yuki! Well done, my boy. We will take a 10 minutes break before the next match!"

"Way to play, Jay!" Syrus praised as he and the others came down to congratulate him.

"Good job." Chumley said.

"That was excellent dueling, Jaden." Andrew praised.

"Indeed." Bastion agreed as he walked up to them. "You beat me fair and square, Jaden. Or rather, you beat this deck. But rest assured, there will be another."

"And another duel. Count on it!" Jaden said.

Bastion smiled and held out his. Jaden looked down at it, smiled and slapped it before shaking it.

* * *

Alexis and Jenny caught up with Gerard shortly after he left the arena. "Hey you!" Alexis called out, making stop in his tracks. "You're the one who was asking questions at the abandoned dorm. What are you doing here?"

Gerard smiled. "Not what I thought."

"What?" Jenny asked confused.

"You see, I came here to find a story, but what I found was something _very_ different. I found the duelist inside me, the duelist I thought was long gone. Look, I'm a reporter. A sleazy one, I'll admit. I used to make a living digging up dirt. But I didn't always. I took on monsters and spells before I took on tabloid pictures." He turned around to face the Obelisk girls. "It's true. I was... a duelist, just like Bastion and Jaden. But I wasn't any good, and I kept losing, and the memories were awful. But after today's match, it made me remember what dueling is really about." He took out an electronic disk from his pocket. "I had a great lead that I was gonna sell to the highest bidder. A lead that would probably ruin Duel Academy. But I don't wanna ruin this place... not now. I just wanna help now. To find them, _all_ the missing students. Including your brother, Alexis."

With that, Gerard began to walk away. Jenny looked at Alexis, who seemed to have changed by his words. She looked more hopeful than before. And then, Jenny called out to Gerard. "Hold on a second!"

"Hm?" He stoped and turned around.

"Since you're here, how about you stick around for a bit? At least to watch the two next matches."

"You sure about that?" Gerard asked, earning a nod of confirmation from her. "Well, I guess it can't hurt." He said smiling.

"Trust me, you won't regret it." Jenny said, also smiling.

* * *

As everyone was cheering, Bastion turned to Andrew. "Well then, Andrew. The next match is between you and me. I hope you're ready."

Andrew nodded with a smile. "Yeah, you can count on it. Whatever you have in store for me, I'll take it on."

Jaden grinned. "Alright! You guys better get your game on!"

* * *

 **Okay, the first match is over. Two more to go. Until next time.**


	28. Chapter 28

**The Duel Off: Part: 2 - A Hero's Struggle Against Vanity**

It was still some time before his match, so Andrew was sitting on a bench in a locker room, going through his deck one more time. "Okay, Bastion used a card to cancel out Jaden's fusion summons. He might be planning to do the same to me since I'm using fusion monsters as well." He said thoughtfully. "But then again, I still have my Masked Heroes, and the way to summon them isn't exactly a fusion summon, and Bastion probably know that. Meaning, he must have something different up his sleeve."

As he looked through his deck, the spirit of Phantom Magician appeared. _"Are you ready for this, partner?"_

"I am." Andrew nodded. "As ready as I can be."

 _"You better be careful. Your opponent is a skilled one. Not to mention he's intelligent."_

"I know. But I'll do my best, no matter what Bastion has in store for me. It won't be easy, but I know I can do this."

His spirit partner nodded in approval. _"Then let's go."_ He then disappeared as Andrew left the locker room.

* * *

At the same time, everyone was waiting for the next duel to begin. Jaden joined Syrus, Chumley, Shiori, Matt and Michael. And additionally, Gerard decided to sit with them. While they were waiting, he shortly gave them an explanation to why he was at the academy and how's he changed. They all accepted it with ease. Well, Matt still couldn't trust him entirely, but decided to focus on the duel-off, for now.

"So, what do you think Bastion's gonna use against Andrew?" Gerard asked.

"Well, Andrew's biggest strength is the Masked Heroes." Michael said. "And the method to summon those monsters doesn't count as fusion summons, so I think Bastion's planning to use something against special summons."

"But didn't Jenny try to do the same when she dueled him?" Syrus asked.

"Not quite." Shiori responded. "Remember, her counter strategy was meant to _limit_ his special summons, not neutralize them."

"I haven't seen Andrew duel yet. Is there anything you guys can tell what to expect?" Gerard asked.

"Well…" Jaden started, but was interrupted by a voice coming from the loudspeakers.

 **"Attention! Andrew Wilson and Bastion Misawa, please enter the arena for the duel. I repeat, enter the arena for the duel."**

Jaden smiled at that. "Sounds like the duel's about to start. So you're about to see."

"Okay."

Bastion and Andrew stepped up on the platform from opposite ends, with their duel disk and decks ready.

"This duel should be good." Zane commented from his spot high up, accompanied once again by Alexis and Jenny. "Andrew may not have the same intelligence as Bastion, but he's been showing more than once what he's capable of."

"That's true." Alexis agreed. "He's been facing opponents with strategies that involved either powerful monsters, or destruction effects, and managed to pull it off."

"Not mention he was able to defeat me, despite how well I did by counting his moves." Jenny added.

"But now we're about to see what Bastion's plan to counter his deck is." Zane said.

Crowler was about to make the announcement, but… "Crowler." Sheppard called out.

The Obelisk Blue Headmaster turned to the Chancellor. "Yes, sir?"

"Be sure to give them a proper introduction. Understood?" The Chancellor said with a calm smile.

But Crowler knew quite well how foolish it would be to do something to upset him. "Of course, Chancellor." He said forcibly. He then cleared his throat before speaking up. "Alright! It's time for the second match today! On one end, for a second performance, we have Bastion Misawa!" Everyone cheered for the intelligent Ra student, despite his loss against Jaden. "And on the other end, another student from Ra Yellow…" Crowler managed to not make a face with the introduction. "We have Andrew Wilson!" Everyone cheered for him as well.

"Well Andrew, this is it. It's time for you to see how this deck works against you. Jaden may have defeated my other one, but I assure you that the one I'm using now won't be as easy to defeat."

"Knowing you, I wouldn't be surprised. But whatever you have planned for me, I'll give you everything I've got." Andrew said with determination.

Bastion nodded. "I'd expect no less, coming from you. Now then, let's begin, shall we?"

Andrew nodded in return.

"Duelists, begin!" Crowler jumped off the platform, while both Ra students activated their duel disks and drew their hands.

"Let's duel!"

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Bastion: 4000**

"My move." Just like in the last duel, Bastion took the first turn. "I summon Shining Angel in defense mode!" A man with short, blonde hair dressed in a white toga appeared. There were two pairs of golden angel wings sprouted on his back. (ATK: 1400 **DEF: 800** LV: 4) "That's all for now."

"Shining Angel, huh?" Jenny mused. "It look's like Bastion's using a light deck. I wonder what else he's got."

"Alright then." Andrew drew his sixth. "I'll start by summoning Elemental HERO Blazeman in attack mode." The red armored hero with his fiery head appeared. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "And since he was summoned, I can take a Polymerization from my deck and add it to my hand." He took the named card from his deck and held it up. "And why keep it in my hand, when I can use it to summon a fusion monster? I combine Blazeman with Shadow Mist to form Elemental HERO Nova Master!" The red armored hero was sucked into a fusion vortex, along with the black haired and dark armored woman. And out of the vortex appeared the red and orange armored fire hero. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2100 LV: 8) "And since Shadow Mist was sent to the graveyard, I can use her special ability to add a HERO monster from my deck to my hand, like Stratos." He held up the named card.

Bastion smiled. "I see you're starting big." He noted.

"I sure am. And that's just the beginning. Nova Master, attack his Shining Angel! Burning Sphere Bomb!" The hero created a big fire ball and threw it. It then exploded when it made contact with the angel. "And now his special ability activates. After he destroys a monster in battle, I get to draw a card from my deck." Andew explained as he drew.

"Bravo. But my Shining Angel has a special ability as well. After he's destroyed in battle, I can summon one light attribute monster from my deck with up to 1500 attack points. And I choose Batteryman AA!" The angel was replaced by an orange battery with a head and limbs. ( **ATK: 0** DEF: 0 LV: 3)

"That's weird." Chumley said.

"Yeah, why would Bastion summon a monster like that?" Syrus added.

"If it's about its attack points, then you guys have forgotten what Andrew said." Shiori said. "Attack points aren't everything."

"Now, in case you're wondering, my Batteryman has a special ability." Bastion explained. "When all Batteryman AA are on my field in attack mode, he gains 1000 attack points for each one, including himself." Electricity coursed through the monster's body. ( **ATK: 0-1000** )

 _'If that's true, then he must have two more Batterymen in his deck.'_ Andrew thought. "I place two cards facedown and end my turn." Two cards appeared behind his heroes.

"Very well." Bastion drew. "First I'll switch my Batteryman to defense mode." The battery monster crouched down. (ATK: 1000-0) "And next, I'll play a second Batteryman AA." A duplicate of the first battery monster appeared and crouched down. (ATK: 0 **DEF: 0** LV: 3) "And since both of them are in defense mode, their defense points are increased by 1000 for every Batteryman AA I have in defense." Electricity was sparking between both monsters. ( **DEF: 0-2000** ) x2 "Then I activate the spell card Electromagnetic Shield." As soon as the spell card appeared, the batterymen were suddenly surrounded by an electric barrier. "As long as I have no monsters in attack mode, this spell card keeps all my level 3 or lower thunder type monsters from being destroyed in battle."

"Not a bad move." Gerard remarked. "That means Andrew can't get through those monsters."

"Don't be so sure." Jaden replied. "He just have to destroy that spell card. And that won't be a problem since he has Stratos in his hand.

Bastion, on the other hand, smirked. "I haven't forgotten about your Stratos, Andrew."

The Masked hero user widened his eyes.

"I activate the spell card Prohibition." Another spell card appeared right next to the first one. "When this card is activated, I must declare the name of a card. And as long as it remains on the field, that card and its effects can not be used. And I choose Elemental HERO Stratos."

Andrew gasped. And so did Jaden and the others. Michael turned to the brown-haired Slifer. "It looks like you just jinxed him, Jaden."

"Oops."

"Clever." Zane remarked. "Without Stratos, Andrew can't destroy any spell or trap card."

"And that will put him on edge." Alexis added.

"That won't stop him." Jenny said. "Andrew will win."

"I end my turn with a facedown." Bastion concluded as he inserted a card into his duel disk.

"Then here goes." Andrew drew a card and looked at it. He then smiled. "I might not be able to use Stratos, but I can still destroy your spell card."

"Is that so?" Bastion asked curiously.

"Yes, because I just drew the spell, Enemy controller." The familiar game controller appeared and let its cable attach itself to one of the batterymen. "This card has two effects, and I can use one of them. I choose its first effect, which lets me change the battle mode of one of your monsters. So I'll force one of your Batterymen to attack mode." The buttons of the controller were pressed: A, down, left, B, left, up. After that, the battery monster stood up. "And now when your monster is in attack mode, your shield is gone." The spell card in question was destroyed.

"Awesome!" Syrus cheered. "Now he can destroy those batterymen."

"But that's not all." Matt added. "Since both of them are in different battle modes, their special abilities are cancelled out."

True to his words, the battery monsters lost their power. ( **DEF: 2000-0** ) x2

"Impressive move, Andrew." Bastion praised.

"Thank you. And I'll continue by summoning Elemental HERO Lady Heat in attack mode." The white and red clad fire heroine appeared. ( **ATK: 1300** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "And now Nova Master, attack the Batteryman that is in attack mode with Burning Sphere Bomb!" The red and orange hero created another fireball and threw it at the intended target.

 **Bastion: 4000-1400**

"Lishus!" Chumley said.

"Nice!" Shiori added.

But Bastion just smirked. "Good show, but you just triggered my trap card." His facedown card revealed itself. "Damage Vaccine Ω MAX. When I take damage, this card lets me regain the life points I just lost." Bastion was then surrounded by a blue aura.

 **Bastion: 1400-4000**

"Man, his life points are fully restored." Michael noted.

"Yeah, what a sweet card." Jaden added.

"Nice, but I get to draw a card, thanks to Nova Master." Andrew drew a card.

"Yes I know. But since my other Batteryman AA is alone, he gets 1000 defense points." ( **DEF: 0-1000** )

"That's still not enough. Lady Heat, attack!" The fire heroine created her own fireball and threw it at the batteryman. "And now I think it's time to use the spell card Mask Change."

Bastion watched as the named spell card appeared. _'Hm, that means Andrew is about to summon one of his Masked Heroes. It appears they are as hard to stop as I predicted.'_

"Now Lady Heat, transform into Masked HERO Goka!" The fire heroine's body glowed and was then surrounded by a pillar of fire. Once it died down, she was replaced by the masked hero in red and black armor. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF: 1800 LV: 6) "I hope you're ready, because this monster gets 100 attack points for every HERO monster in my graveyard, and I count 3." The hero glowed brightly. ( **ATK: 2200-2500** ) "Now Goka, attack him directly! Inferno Kick!" The hero jumped in the air, ignited his right foot and landed a burning kick on Bastion who stepped back after he made contact.

 **Bastion: 4000-1500**

"Sweet!" Jaden said.

"Way to go, dude!" Michael cheered.

"Wow, looks like Andrew is on a roll today." Alexis commented.

"No kidding. If it wasn't for Bastion's trap card, he could have already won by now." Jenny added.

"Well, Professor Sartyr was right about nominating Andrew." Sheppard said.

"Yes, Andrew is an excellent duelist." Banner agreed.

Crowler was grumbling. _'Just great. Jaden defeating Bastion was bad enough. But now his 'masked hero' friend has taken the lead. This is just not my day.'_

"You okay?" Andrew asked.

Bastion rubbed his chest after the hero monster returned to Andrew's field. "I'm perfectly fine. Thanks for your concern though."

"In that case, I'll end my turn."

"Very well, I draw." Bastion drew a card. "And I'll start by activating Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards." He drew two new cards and looked at them. He looked one of them in particular. _'Ah, just what I need to test him.'_  
"First I place one card facedown, and then I summon Jowgen The Spiritualist in defense mode." A facedown card appeared followed up by a new monster that crouched down. It was a mage in colorful robes, wielding a staff. (ATK: 200 **DEF: 1300** LV: 3)

"Uh oh." Matt said.

"What? What is it?" Syrus asked.

"That monster Bastion just played. It's bad news for Andrew."

"Why is that?" Chumley asked.

"Just wait and see." Shiori replied, looking grim.

"Now I activate Jowgen's ability." Bastion announced. "By discarding one random card from my hand, he can destroy all special summoned monsters on the field."

"No way!" Andrew exclaimed.

Bastion shuffled his two remaining cards and discard one of them. After that, the mage muttered a few words, and a magic circle appeared beneath the two hero monsters. They were engulfed by light before they disappeared.

"My heroes are gone!"

"Indeed they are. But that's not all. As long as Jowgen remains on the field, none of us can special summon any monsters."

"No special summons?" Gerard asked.

"Whoa! Was that the big strategy Bastion had in store for Andrew?" Jaden wondered.

Michael looked thoughtful. _'That's kinda doubtful. Sure, that monster might be troublesome, but it has low defense points. I think bastion has something else planned for later.'_

"I end my turn." Bastion concluded.

"My move." Andrew drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Ocean." The blue, aquatic hero appeared with his trident in hand. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Now attack his Spiritualist!" The hero was about to dash forward...

"I activate my trap, Zero Gravity!" Bastion facedown card revealed itself. "This card makes all the monsters on the field to switch modes, which means your Ocean is forced to defense mode."

Andrew watched as his hero monster kneeled down while Bastion's monster stood up. "Fine, I'll end my turn."

Bastion drew his next card. "Ah, just what I needed." He said. "I activate the spell card Level Limit Area B." A spell card appeared.

"What does that do?"

"As long as this spell card is on the field, any level four or above monster on the field is kept in defense mode."

"Aw man. That means Andrew can't attack, unless he has a monster with a lower level." Syrus said.

"It's fine." Shiori said confidently. "He'll pull through."

"Then I'll switch Jowgen back to defense mode and end my turn." Bastion concluded as the mage kneeled down.

"In that case…" Andrew drew his next card. "I'll start by activating Ocean's special ability. During my standby phase, I can take a HERO monster from my field or graveyard and add it to my hand." One card in particular came out of the graveyard slot. "I choose Lady Heat, and I think I'll summon her to the field." The fire heroine appeared and kneeled down. (ATK: 1300 **DEF: 1000** LV: 4)

"Not much of a move, considering the fact you can't attack." Bastion stated.

Andrew just smirked. "You're right, I can't attack. But that doesn't mean your life points are safe. You see, Lady heat has a special ability. During my end phase, you take 200 points of damage for every Elemental HERO on my field." The fire heroine created a fireball and threw it at Bastion.

 **Bastion: 1500-1100**

"Yeah! That's it!" Michael said.

"Go get him, Andrew!" Jaden cheered.

"What do you know? Looks like Andrew is getting closer to victory." Alexis noted.

"Andrew is always coming up with something when he's at a disadvantage." Jenny replied.

"But the question is can he keep this up?" Zane wondered.

"Not bad." Bastion said as he drew a card. "But I know how to take care of your Lady Heat. I summon White Magician Pikeru in attack mode." The monster that appeared was a little girl in a white gown with a hat shaped like a sheep, holding a scepter. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 0 LV: 2)

"She's cute." Syrus said, blushing a little.

"I saw her first." Chumley argued.

"No, I saw her first!"

"What are you guys fighting about?" Jaden asked, oblivious to the magician's cuteness. Shiori, Michael and Matt shook their heads.

"That's an interesting monster." Andrew commented.

"Yes. This monster has a good purpose. Now let me show you how she destroys your Lady heat. Now attack Pikeru!" The spellcaster held up her scepter and fired a beam of magic energy.

"I activate my trap, Waboku." One of Andrew's facedown cards flipped up and created a barrier that blocked the attack. "For one turn, this trap card keeps my monsters from being destroyed in battle."

Bastion took that quite well. "Not bad. I think I'll end my turn."

"Okay then." Andrew drew. "I'll use Ocean's ability to take back Shadow Mist from my graveyard and summon her to the field in defense mode." The black-armored woman kneeled down next to Lady Heat. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1500** LV: 4) "And with that, I'll let my Lady Heat wrap this up here." The fire heroine threw another fireball at Bastion.

 **Bastion: 1100-0500**

"Whoa!" Matt gasped. "Bastion's almost out of points."

"And Andrew haven't lost any of his." Shiori added.

"Then it's over. Once Bastion's next turn has passed, he'll win." Syrus said.

Michael thought otherwise. "I'm not sure about that." He said, making everyone looking at him confused.

"What do you mean?" Gerard asked.

On que, Bastion drew a card and said… "Now I'll use Pikeru's special ability." The magician held up her scepter and made a blue aura surround him. "You see Andrew, during my standby phase, my magician gives me 400 extra life points for every monster I have on the field, including herself."

 **Bastion: 0500-1300**

"I knew it." Michael said.

"Looks like Bastion's not gonna bite the dust just yet." Jaden commented.

"So you're still hanging in there, huh?" Andrew said.

"Indeed I am. And now for my next move. I summon The Calculator in attack mode." A red, robot-like monster appeared. On its chest were a bunch of number buttons and the kind buttons that would let someone use to add, subtract, etc. And its head was some kind of screen, showing the number 0. ( **ATK: ?** DEF: 0 LV: 2)

"A monster with undetermined attack strength?" Andrew asked.

"Correct." Bastion replied. "You see, due to its special ability, The Calculator's attack points are equal to the combined level of my monsters and then multiplied by 300. Now, The Calculator itself is a level 2 monster, and so is Pikeru. And Jowgen is a level 3 monster. And… I'm sure you can count." And then, the robot's screen was showing the calculations in following way: (2+2=4) (4+3=7) (7x300=2100) ( **ATK: ?-2100** )

"A level 2 monster with 2100 attack points!" Shiori exclaimed.

"Oh boy." Jaden said.

"Now, let's try this again. White Magician Pikeru, attack his Lady Heat!" The spellcaster fired another energy beam.

"I can't save my monster, but I can use this trap card." Andrew's facedown card flipped up. "I activate Elemental Recharge. This trap gives me 1000 life points for every Elemental HERO I control." His three heroes glowed brightly for a moment before he did.

 **Andrew: 4000-7000**

That didn't stop Pikeru from destroying Lady heat. "You're going to need them." Bastion said. "Now my Calculator, attack his Ocean!" The Calculator held up a hand and fired a stream of electricity that zapped the water hero until he was destroyed. "I end my turn."

"Okay, my move." Andrew drew a card and looked at it. "I play a facedown monster in defense mode and end my turn." A facedown card appeared next to Shadow Mist.

"Is that it?" Syrus asked.

"What else can he do? He's stuck." Chumley said.

"Nah, I'm sure he's doing fine." Jaden replied.

"Let's see if you're right." Michael said.

"Now then…" Bastion drew. "Since there are three monsters on my field now, I gain 1200 life points, thanks to Pikeru."

 **Bastion: 1300-2500**

"And it looks like I drew the spell card Big Bang Shot. And I think I'll equip it to my Calculator, giving him 400 extra attack points." As soon as the spell card appeared, the robot made another calculation. (2100+400=2500) ( **ATK: 2100-2500** ) "And here's another effect my spell card has; if my monster attacks a monster in defense mode, the difference between its attack points and your monster's defense points is dealt to you as damage."

"No way!" Matt exclaimed.

"Then Bastion can deal battle damage, no matter which battle mode Andrew's monsters are in." Gerard realized.

"This is not good." Shiori said.

"Now my Calculator, attack his facedown monster!" The robot fired another stream of electricity. The attack caused the facedown card to flip up and reveal a familiar brown potted plant. (ATK: 500 **DEF: 500** LV: 3) Some of the electricity reached Andrew as well.

 **Andrew: 7000-5000**

After the monster was destroyed, Andrew smirked after recovering from the attack. "Sorry Bastion, but you just destroyed my Fiber Jar, and therefore triggered its flip effect. Now we must take back all our card from our hand, field and graveyard, shuffle them up and draw 5 new cards." All cards on the field disappeared, and the cards in the graveyard slots came out. Both duelists gathered them and shuffled their deck.

"Looks like Andrew turned the duel around." Alexis noted.

"Of course he did." Jenny replied while smiling.

Zane just kept a straight face.

Once the duelists were done, they drew a new hand.

"Well then, Bastion, what are you going to do now?" Andrew asked confidently.

The answer that came out of the intellectual duelist's mouth was not what he expected: "What I'm going to do now, is to reveal my true strategy."

Andrew widened his eyes. "True strategy?"

"Indeed. You see, ever since this duel started, I was merely using my cards to see what you were about to do. To see what you were capable of."

Andrew and his friends who heard this gasped.

"So then, all this time…"Jaden began.

"You were just testing me?" Andrew finished.

"That's right. And now, thanks to your Fiber Jar, I have the cards I need to show you what I really wanted to reveal. First I summon Kaiser Seahorse in attack mode!" A blue and purple aquatic warrior with a double ended spear and a shield appeared. ( **ATK: 1700** DEF: 1650 LV: 4) "And next I activate the spell card Double Summon. This lets me normal summon a monster a second time. A very useful spell card for this situation. Because if I would summon a light attribute monster, I can use my Kaiser Seahorse as two sacrifices."

"Which means Bastion's about to summon something very strong." Michael said.

"But what kind of monster is it?" Chumley wondered.

"We're about to find out." Jaden said.

"I sacrifice Kaiser Seahorse in order to summon Vanity's Ruler!" The warrior was replaced by a man with fair skin and pointy ears. He had short green hair and was wearing long, silvery, glittering robes. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 1600 LV: 8)

"What is that?" Syrus asked.

"Something that's not friendly." Matt replied.

"Okay, I'm going to ask you once." Andrew said. "What does that monster do?"

Bastion smirked. "Since you asked, I'll tell you. From starters, Vanity's Ruler can't be special summoned. But that's not important, what's really important is that this monster prevents you from special summon any monsters."

"Say what!?"

"Is he serious?" Shiori asked disbelieved.

"So not only that monster has many attack points, it won't let Andrew special summon monsters." Gerard said.

"And that includes his fusion monsters, even the Masked heroes." Michael added.

"Talk about a comeback." Jaden commented.

"Well, Bastion may have lost to Jaden, but he certainly has Andrew cornered." Zane mentioned.

"No joke." Alexis replied. "Many decks depend on special summons, Andrew's got it worse in this situation."

"He'll still win. I'm sure of it." Jenny said confidently.

"Looks like Andrew is in a lot of trouble now." Sheppard commented.

"Indeed he is." Banner agreed. "Aye, this situation had become pretty grim."

Crowler was now pleased. "Well, this is more like it. Even after his loss on the first match, Bastion's still playing perfectly. Andrew's chance of winning is getting slim."

"And to end my turn, I play a card facedown." Bastion concluded as he inserted a card into his duel disk.

"Come on, Andrew! You can do this!" Jaden cheered.

"Thanks Jaden." Andrew said as he was about to draw a card. _'To be honest, I'm not sure what to do. Without being able to special summon monsters, I don't have so much to choose from.'_ He then drew a card and saw what he got. He smiled. _'Mirror Force. This could work. As soon as Bastion attacks, I can use this to destroy his monster, then I don't have to worry about its ability.'_ He inserted it into his duel disk. "I place one card facedown and summon Elemental HERO Woodsman in defense mode." The green-skinned wooden warrior appeared. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4) "I end my turn."

"I'll go." Bastion drew a card. "And now Vanity's Ruler, destroy his Woodsman!" The green-haired man raised his right hand shot a beam of light energy.

"Activate trap!" Andrew's facedown card revealed itself. "Mirror Force! Now I can destroy your monster since it's in attack mode." A glass wall appeared and absorbed the energy beam. After that, it was sent back to Vanity's Ruler.

"Nice try, Andrew. But I have a trap card of my own." Bastion countered as he revealed his own facedown card. "It's called Interdimensional Matter Transporter, and here's how it works: I get to choose a monster on my field. And then, until the end of this turn, that monster is removed from the game." At that, the green-haired man disappeared just before he got hit by his own attack. "So that means Vanity's Ruler is safe."

Andrew clicked his tongue.

"Aw man. Andrew almost had him." Syrus said.

"Ahh, I can't believe Bastion managed to dodge that." Shiori added.

"Looks like Bastion is serious this time." Michael commented.

"Yeah, he is. Still though, this duel is getting good." Jaden said.

"No doubt about it." Gerard agreed.

"I end my turn." As soon as those words left Bastion's mouth, Vanity's Ruler returned to the field.

"My move." Andrew drew. "And I'll activate Woodsman's ability. During my standby phase, I can take a Polymerization from my deck or graveyard and add it to my hand." He took the named card from his deck.

"I don't see what good that would do. Remember, Vanity's Ruler prevents you from special summon your monsters in any way." bastion reminded him.

 _'Maybe so, but I'm sure I can take him down. I just need some time to figure it_ out.'  
"I play Swords of Revealing Light." Swords of light appeared, surrounding Bastion's monster. "Now you can't attack for three turns. And next I summon Elemental HERO Voltic in defense mode." The golden and purple, electric hero crouched down right next to the wooden man. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1500** LV: 4) "With that, I end my turn."

"My turn." Bastion drew. "And I play Graceful Charity. Now I can draw three cards, but then, I must discard two." He drew three new cards, looked at them and discarded two of them. "That's all for now."

"Alright then." Andrew drew a card and looked at it. "I play this monster in defense mode and end my turn." A facedown card appeared right next to Voltic.

"So he's not going add another Polymerization to his?" Syrus asked.

"Andrew probably think he only need one." Shiori assumed.

"Very well." Bastion drew his next card. He smiled at what he got. "Just what I was waiting for. I activate the spell card Battery Charger. By paying 500 life points, I can summon a Batteryman from my graveyard."

 **Bastion: 2500-2000**

"And I think you recognize him." He said as he summoned back a familiar, orange battery monster. ( **ATK: 0** DEF: 0 LV: 3)

"Batteryman AA." Andrew mused.

"Correct. But that's not all." Bastion held up another card. "I activate the spell card Inferno Reckless Summon. Since I summoned a monster with attack points that aren't higher than 1500, I can summon all monsters from my hand, deck or graveyard that are the same as the one I just brought out. So I summon the two other Batteryman AA from my deck." The first battery monster was joined by two duplicates of him. ( **ATK: 0** DEF: 0 LV: 3) x2

"Uh oh. Now there are three of them." Syrus said.

"Not lishus." Chumley added.

"Not for Andrew, that is." Michael said.

"Now, as you know, their attack points are increased by 1000 for every Batteryman AA that I have on the field in attack mode. And you know what that means, don't you?" Electricity coursed through their bodies. ( **ATK: 0-3000** ) x3

"Three monsters with 3000 attack points!" Shiori exclaimed.

"Whoa! Talk about a battery charge." Jaden cracked.

"At least Andrew is safe from Bastion's attacks for now." Gerard said.

"Until the effect of Swords of Revealing Light expires." Matt replied.

"I end my turn with a facedown." Bastion concluded, inserting a card into his duel disk.

"Then here goes." Andrew began his next turn. "First I activate the spell card Pot of Greed, so I can draw two more cards." After he drew his two new cards, he smiled. "Alright, time to take down Vanity's Ruler. I sacrifice my Woodsman and facedown monster in order to summon Elemental HERO Bladedge!" The green-skinned man, along with the facedown card disappeared, and in their place, appeared the golden armored hero with jet wings. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 1800 LV: 7)

"Sweet! This is just what Andrew need." Jaden said.

"Got that right." Michael said while smirking. "With a monster with 2600 attack points, Andrew should be able to destroy Vanity's Ruler."

"And then his fusion monsters are back in action." Shiori added.

"Now Bladedge, attack his Vanity's Ruler! Slice and Dice Attack!" The golden hero flew forward, straight toward the green-haired man.

Everyone watched as the hero got closer and was about to slice his opponent...

"I don't think so!" As soon as Bastion said that, Bladedge stopped himself. Why? Because an electric barrier appeared, protecting Bastion's monsters.

"What the…?!" Andrew said surprised. "What happened?"

"Simple, when you attacked me, I used the ability of a monster that I just took from the graveyard. By doing so, your battle phase was cancelled." Bastion explained while holding up a card.

Even though he couldn't see the image, Andrew realized what that card was. "Don't tell me. Electromagnetic Turtle?"

"Correct." Bastion turned the card around to confirm Andrew's suspicion.

"So now you're using one of my tactics?" Andrew asked while narrowing his eyes.

"Well, to be fair, it is common that some duelists have same cards in their decks, even though the decks themselves aren't exactly the same."

Andrew thought about it and shrugged. "That's true. Anyway, I end my turn with a facedown." A card appeared behind Bladedge.

"Then it's my turn." Bastion drew a card. "And I activate the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon. Now I can destroy a spell or trap card, like your Swords of Revealing Light." The card created a whirlwind that blew away all swords surrounding Bastion's monster.

"Ah, my swords of light." Andrew grunted while holding his arms for protection against the storm.

"They're all gone, leaving your monsters vulnerable. "Now Batteryman AA, attack his Bladedge!" One of the battery monsters charged itself up and shot a stream of electricity. Just before the attack made contact, Andrew's field was surrounded by a familiar electric barrier. "What!" Bastion exclaimed.

Andrew chuckled as he held up a card. "Since you stopped my attack with _your_ turtle, I may as well return the favor." He revealed his card and it was his own Electromagnetic Turtle.

Bastion smiled. "Of course. I should have known you had that one prepared."

"Well, it's too late for that. So how about to end your turn?"

"Not yet. There's something I need to do first." And it was then Bastion's facedown card revealed itself. "I activate the trap, Jar of Avarice. This lets me take five cards from my graveyard, shuffle them back into my deck and draw one card." He took five cards from the graveyard slot and shuffled them into his deck. After that, he drew a card and looked at it. "I end my turn with a facedown." A card appeared behind Vanity's Ruler.

"Then it's my move." Andrew drew a card. "Now Bladedge, let's try this again. Attack Vanity's Ruler!" The golden hero flew toward the green-haired man.

"You just triggered my trap." Bastion interrupted and revealed his facedown. And it was a familiar trap.

"Are you serious?" Andrew asked disbelieved.

"That's right. It's my Interdimensional Matter Transporter. So I can remove Vanity's Ruler from the field, again." And just like that, the man was gone.

"Come on. How many times can he keep that monster from being destroyed?" Syrus complained.

"This isn't good." Shiori said.

"It's not over yet." Jaden replied. "Andrew can still win this."

After Bladedge returned to his field, Andrew looked at his hand. _'I failed to destroy Vanity's Ruler, again. Bastion seems to be one step ahead. But there's still a chance for me to win this.'_ He glanced at one of the cards in his hands.

* * *

 **Flashback**

Andrew looked at one card he took from the wooden box where he kept all his leftover cards _'This one could be useful.'_ He thought.

 **Flashback end**

* * *

He took the card and inserted it into his duel disk, along with three other cards. "I place three cards facedown and summon Elemental HERO Ice Edge in defense mode." Three facedown cards appeared, along with the kid with icy outfit. ATK: 800 **DEF: 900** LV: 3) "I end my turn." After that, Vanity's Ruler came back to the field.

"Then it's my move." Bastion drew a card.

"I activate my trap." One of Andrew's facedown cards flipped up. "Breakthrough Skill. With this, i can choose one of your monsters, and negate its effects for one turn. And I choose Vanity's Ruler." The monster in question grunted as a purple aura surrounded him, making him weaker.

"That's great." Gerard said. "That means Andrew can special summon monsters."

"That's true, but…" Michael began. "Why use it at beginning of Bastion's turn?"

"Beats me." Jaden replied.

"He must have some sort of strategy in mind." Shiori said.

"But what?" Matt wondered.

"Now for my second facedown card." Andrew announced as he revealed another card. "Just like you re-used your Transporter card, I'm gonna re-use Elemental Recharge. So with three Elemental heroes, my trap gives me 3000 life points."

 **Andrew: 5000-8000**

"Wow! Never thought I would see him increase his life points that much." Alexis admitted.

"That's quite impressive." Jenny said while smiling.

"And now I reveal my third facedown card, Mask Change." The named card flipped up. "Now I can send a HERO monster I control to the graveyard and summon a Masked HERO. And I think I'll change Ice Edge into Masked HERO Vapor!" The icy kid's body glowed and grew bigger. When the light died down, he was now the warrior clad in blue and silver armor, wielding a double-pointed spear. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 2000 LV: 6)

Bastion smirked. "Impressive. But…" He then held up the card he drew. "That won't be enough, thanks to this card." He held it up. "I activate the spell card Short Circuit! When I have at least three Batterymen on the field, I can destroy all cards on your field."

"All cards!" Shiori exclaimed.

"Dude, Andrew is in big trouble now." Michael said.

"Come on." Jenny muttered worriedly.

The three batterymen pooled electricity together and shot it out at Andrew's field.

"I reveal my forth facedown card!" His remaining facedown card flipped up. "Blast with Chain. I can equip this card to a monster and give it 500 more attack points, and I'll give it to Vapor." The masked hero held his left hand and the familiar dynamite appeared on his palm. ( **ATK: 2400-2900** )

And then, the hero was enveloped by the battery monsters electricity. But, the only card that wasn't destroyed, was Vapor. ( **ATK: 2900-2400** )

"I see that your monster survived." Bastion noted.

"That's right, and it's all thanks to his special ability. He can't be destroyed by cards effects." Andrew then smirked. "Which is more than I can say about your monsters."

"What are you implying to?"

"I'm implying to Blast with Chain. Since it was destroyed by a card effect while equipped, it automatically destroys one card on the field. There goes one of your Batterymen."

Bastion gasped as the middle one of the named monsters exploded.

"Lishus!" Chumley cheered.

"He destroyed one of the batterymen." Syrus said.

"And with one gone, the other two gets weaker." Jaden added. ( **ATK: 3000-2000** )

"I must say, I'm impressed by your skills, Andrew." Bastion said.

"Thanks Bastion." Andrew replied. "You have been playing great as well."

"And I'm going to keep doing it. I summon Theban Nightmare in attack mode." The monster that appeared between the two remaining batterymen was a blue, fiendish ghost. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 500 LV: 4)

"Okay, what's so special about that monster?" Jaden wondered.

"I don't know." Shiori replied.

Michael looked grim. "That monster is trouble."

Everyone looked at him.

"What do you mean?" Matt asked.

Before the dark duelist responded, they heard Bastion speak up. "This monster has a very special ability. If I have no cards in my hand and in the spell and trap card zones, he gains 1500 attack points."

Everyone gasped.

"No way!" Andrew exclaimed.

The fiendish ghost growled as it grew bigger. ( **ATK: 1500-3000** )

"I'm afraid it's true, Andrew. And therefore, your life points are about to take a lot of damage. But first, Vanity's Ruler, attack his Vapor!" The green-haired man fired an energy beam and destroyed the masked hero.

 **Andrew: 8000-7900**

"Now, Theban Nightmare, attack him directly!" The ghost flew across the field, and gave Andrew a punch that passed through him, making him grunt.

 **Andrew: 7900-4900**

"And don't forget about about my two Batterymen!" The battery charged themselves up and fired a stream of electricity which struck Andrew.

 **Andrew: 4900-0900**

"That's all for now." Bastion concluded. "You fought well, Andrew. But I believe victory is about to be mine."

"Don't be so sure." Andrew countered. "I won't stand down until the last life points expires. This is duel isn't over."

"That's the spirit!" Jaden cheered. "Go get him!"

"You can do it!" Shiori added.

"Come one, Andrew. I know you can win." Jenny encouraged him.

"You're really supporting him, aren't you?" Alexis noted.

"Of course I am. He's my friend, after all."

"Are you sure you aren't more than that?"

"Come on, Alexis! You're starting to sound like my mom!" Jenny developed a light blush on her cheeks at her friend's words. Alexis smiled a little upon seeing the state her friend was in, but focused on the duel again.

Andrew looked at his deck. _'Alright, time to end this. Please, give me what I need.'_ Andrew his next card and looked at it before he held it up. "I play Legacy of a Hero. When I have at least two level 4 or higher Elemental heroes in my graveyard, I can draw three cards from my deck." After drawing his three new cards, he looked at them and smiled. "Sorry Bastion, but I'm going to put an end to this duel, right now."

"Really? And how are you going to do that?"

"I'll start by doing this." He held up his duel disk and let a card appear from the graveyard slot. "I activate Breakthrough Skill."

"What!? How can you play trap card from the graveyard?"

"It's the second effect of my Breakthrough Skill card. When I have this card in my graveyard during my turn, I can remove it from play, and just like before, I get to negate the effects of a monster you control. So once again, I negate the effect of Vanity's Ruler." Just like before, the named monster grunted while a purple aura surrounded him.

"Wow, I never heard of a trap card that can be activated from the graveyard." Matt commented.

"There aren't many cards that can be used that way, but they're pretty useful." Michael said.

"Now let's see what Andrew's gonna do." Shiori said.

"Now I'm able special summon monsters again. And I'll start with the spell card Monster Reborn Reborn." Bastion watched as the images of three monster cards appeared in front of Andrew: Bladedge, Voltic and Woodsman.

"What's this?"

"This is the effect of my spell card. I choose three monsters from my graveyard. And then, You have to pick one of them. The one you choose will be summoned to the field. The other two will be removed from the game."

"In that case, I choose Voltic." The electric hero emerged from his card and landed on the floor. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1500 LV: 4)

"Then I'll remove the other two." Andrew said as he put the two hero cards into his pocket. "And now I play the spell card Polymerization and fuse Voltic with Flash to form Elemental HERO The Shining." The electric hero merged together with the hero clad in blue outfit and silver armor. And then, in their place, the man in white suit and golden suit with the contraption on his back. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2100 LV: 8) "This monster gains 300 attack points for every Elemental HERO I have removed from play. That's 600 more points." The hero glowed brightly. ( **ATK: 2600-3200** ) "Now Shining, time to destroy Vanity's Ruler and end this duel." The hero was about to gather energy from the contraption.

"I think you miscalculated." Bastion said. "Your monster may be strong enough to take down any of my monsters, but that won't be enough to wipe out my life points."

"Unless I have this card." Andrew replied as he held. "I play Battle Fusion. When my fusion monster is attacked or attacks, its attack points are increased by the same amount as your monster's attack points." The hero glowed even more brightly. ( **ATK: 3200-5700** )

"Great Scott!" Bastion exclaimed while the whole crowd gasped.

"Now, destroy his Vanity's Ruler with Solar Burst!" The hero gathered all energy from his contraption to form a ball and threw it at the green-haired man, creating a massive explosion.

 **Bastion: 2000-0000**

Everyone cheered for the two duelists battle. Well, except for one...

"Just my luck." Crowler grumbled. "Not just Jaden, but his hero companion defeated Bastion. This isn't my day."

"Impressive." Zane said. "Even with the strategy Bastion planned for Andrew, he still pulled it off."

"I knew he was going to win." Jenny said.

"Yeah, but I wonder how he's going to do against Jaden." Alexis added.

"The winner of the second match, Andrew Wilson!" Sheppard announced. "Congratulations! We'll have another 10 minutes break before the final duel, between Andrew and Jaden."

"Well done, Andrew." Bastion congratulated him as they met at middle of the platform. "You managed to pull out a victory despite everything I used against you. Truly remarkable."

"Thanks Bastion." Andrew replied "This victory wasn't easy. Your Vanity's Ruler was really troublesome."

"And yet, you outsmarted me. I never imagined you would use a card like Breakthrough Skill."

Andrew shrugged. "Just thought I could try something new. But we better duel again sometime."

Bastion nodded as both of them shook hands. They went to rejoin who were waiting for them.

"That was super sweet, you too." Jaden said.

"Awesome dueling." Syrus added.

"Totally Lishus!"

"You goth played great!" Gerard filled in.

"Nicely done!" Matt said.

"TotallY" Shiori added.

Michael gave them a thumbs up. "Congratulations."

Andrew turned to his upcoming opponent. "Well, Jaden? Are you ready for our showdown?"

The brown-haired Slifer grinned. "You bet I am! So you better get your game on!"

* * *

 **And that's it folks. Next time it will be a clash of heroes! Until next time.**


	29. Chapter 29

**The Duel Off: Part 3 - Clash of Heroes**

Just like before, it was still some time before the next duel was about to start. Therefore, Andrew was sitting on a bench the locker room, once again, going through his deck.

"Well, this is it. My duel against Jaden is about to start. And he has overcome many tough situations, including Bastion's anti-fusion strategy. This is going to be tough."

The spirit of Phantom Magician choose at that moment to appear. _"Are you nervous?"_

"Maybe a little." Andrew replied, but gave him a confident smile. "But that won't stop me. I'll give Jaden a duel he'll never forget."

Phantom Magician nodded before he disappeared. Andrew then gathered all his cards together and stood up.

"Alright Jaden, time to meet your match."

* * *

At the same time, Jaden was in a different locker room, and looked over his own deck. "This is it. I'm about to face Andrew, and based on how well he played, he's gonna be a very tough opponent."

Winged Kuriboh appeared at that moment. _"Coo."_

Jaden turned to his duel spirit. "Don't worry, buddy. With all you guys on my side, I'll be fine." The duel spirit nodded before he disappeared. "Alright, time to throw down."

* * *

The intermission was close to the end, and the audience was more than eager to see the final duel.

"It's almost time." Syrus said. "This is gonna be one of the greatest duels of the year."

"Yeah, I can't wait to see how this is going to turn out." Chumley added.

"Same here." Gerard replied. "After seeing both of them duel, I can tell this is going to be a fun duel."

"It will be an interesting duel indeed." Bastion spoke up. "Both Jaden and Andrew are hero duelists. Only, there are differences between their Elemental heroes. And there is also Andrew's set of Masked heroes."

"True, but Jaden is so unpredictable that he's not easy to defeat." Matt said.

"Well, Andrew is not easy to defeat either." Shiori replied.

"And that's what's gonna make this duel awesome." Michael added.

"This duel is going to be interesting." Zane said.

"No kidding." Alexis replied. "Jaden and Andrew have similar dueling styles with a few differences."

"And both of them are the kind of duelists who keeps fighting no matter how tough the opponent is." Jenny added.

Crowler came up to the platform once more before speaking into the microphone. "The intermission is now over. Will our two duelists, please take their places on the field for the final match!"

Andrew and Jaden walked from opposite ends, with confident smiles on their faces. The people in the audience cheered loudly for the both of them as they made their way onto the platform in the middle of the arena.

"And now, introducing from Ra Yellow, Andrew Wilson!" Many students from the audience, including the other Ra students, cheered for him. "And from Slifer… ugh... Jaden Yuki!" Crowler did his best to not sound disturbed of introducing him. Many students, including the slifers, cheered for him.

"Alright! It's finally time." Jaden said. "Good luck Andrew."

"Same to you Jaden." Andrew replied. "You better not hold anything back. I know I won't."

"You bet I won't! Now let's throw down!"

"Let the duel Begin!" Crowler announced, then jumped off from the stage.

Both duelists activated their duel disks.

"Get your game on!" Jaden said.

"You got it." Andrew replied.

"DUEL!"

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Jaden: 4000**

"You can go first." Jaden offered as they drew their starting hands.

"Fine by me." Andrew drew his sixth card. "And I think I'll start by activating the spell card Polymerization. And I'll use it to fuse Elemental HERO Heat with Lady Heat." The red and white fire couple appeared before being sucked into the fusion vortex.

"Both Heat and Lady Heat?" Jaden noted. "I've never seen you fuse those two before."

Andrew smirked. "That's because I'm usually fusing them to create this monster..." And then, a new monster came out from the fusion vortex. This was a fiery hero with the same traits as his fusion materials. Flame designs on his shoulders and helmet, and hands made of solid magma, and in the center of his chest was a ball of the same material as the hands. "Jaden, say hello to Elemental HERO Inferno." ( **ATK: 2300** DEF: 1600 LV: 8)

"Wow, that monster is hot, literally." Jaden cracked.

"Trust me, you don't even know half of it. But let's save that for later. I play the spell card Supply Squad." The spell card appeared behind the fusion monster. "I end my turn."

"Then here goes!" Jaden began his turn. "I summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman in attack mode!" The blue clad water hero with white cape appeared from a pillar of bubbles. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And thanks to his special ability, I get to draw two cards since I have nothing else on the field." After drawing his two new cards, Jaden looked at them and smirked. "And it looks like I've got two good ones, starting with this: Bubble Blaster." The familiar bazooka appeared on the hero's shoulder as he grabbed it. "And now Bubbleman gets 800 extra points." ( **ATK: 800-1600** ) "Now for my other card, the field spell Skyscraper." The two duelists found themselves surrounded by tall buildings. "And now if my hero battles a monster that has more attack points than him, my Skyscraper gives him 1000 extra attack points." The water prepared himself to fire. ( **ATK: 1600-2600** )

"Lishus!" Chumley said.

"Now he's going to destroy that Inferno!" Syrus added.

"But it's weird that Andrew would summon a strong monster right at the beginning." Michael stated. "Doing that might be good sometimes, but there's always a chance that the opponent will be able to play something that can destroy it. Kinda like what Jaden just did."

"Yeah, it's not like Andrew to be so overconfident." Shiori added.

"Unless, he actually wants Jaden to attack him." Bastion said.

"But why would he want that?" Matt asked.

Before anyone else could answer, Jaden gave his monster the word. "Now fire! Bombarding Bubble Barrage!" The hero fired a stream of bubbles that went straight toward Andrew's hero monster. But...

"Sorry Jaden, but I'm about to burst your bubble." Andrew said.

"Huh?" Jaden was confused at that statement. But then, he saw the fire hero lighten up his solid magma hands. He then held them up in a defensive way and took the hit from Bubbleman's attack. And Jaden was shocked to see the bubble stream getting vaporized. "What's going on?"

"This is Inferno's ability. Every time he battles with a water monster, his attack points are temporarily increased by 1000." ( **ATK: 2300-3300** )

"Uh oh." Jaden voiced.

"So even with Skyscraper, Bubbleman is still too weak to destroy that hero." Gerard said.

"Aw man." Syrus said.

The fire hero shot a stream of fire that vaporized Bubbleman's attack until it reached him and destroyed Bubble Blaster. ( **ATK: 2600-1800** ) ( **ATK: 3300-2300** )

"Wow! Didn't see that coming." Jaden commented. "Good thing the blaster took the hit."

"Surprised by my monster's effect?" Andrew asked.

"Definitely. I never thought there was a hero with such a sweet effect!"

"Looks like Jaden was caught off guard." Zane said.

"Yeah. Andrew actually expected him to play a water monster and attack Inferno." Jenny added.

"This will be tough for Jaden." Alexis muttered.

"I'll throw down a facedown and call it a turn." Jaden concluded as a facedown card appeared.

"My move." Andrew drew. "Inferno, attack! Destroy his Bubbleman!" The fire hero shot another stream of fire.

"Hold it! I activate my trap, Hero Barrier!" Jaden's facedown card flipped up and created a blue barrier that blocked the fire stream. "Since I have an Elemental HERO on my field, I can negate your attack."

"And Jaden is safe." Matt commented.

"Of course he is." Chumley said.

"I place a card facedown and end my turn." Andrew set a card facedown.

"Then here I go!" Jaden drew a card. "And I think I'll play the spell card Bubble Shuffle. Now I can switch Bubbleman and your monster to defense mode. And then I can sacrifice him to summon another Elemental HERO from my hand." Both hero monsters crossed their arms and kneeled down. "And now I summon Elemental HERO Bladedge!" The water hero disappeared and was replaced by the golden armored hero. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 1800 LV: 7) "And I think I'll let Wildheart join the party." Jaden added as he summoned the same brown-skinned hero he used to defeat Bastion. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1600 LV: 4) "And watch as Bladedge cuts your monster to pieces. Slice and Dice Attack!" The hero's jet wings extended from his back. He then flew towards the fire hero.

"Stop right there! I play Mirror Force!" Andrew's trap card flipped up and created a wall of glass. When Bladedge collided with it, a light erupted from the spot and destroyed him. "Thanks to this, all your monsters in attack mode are destroyed."

"Whoops. Looks like you got me there, again."

"Sorry about that."

"Don't worry, because I'm not done yet. For in case you have forgotten, Wildheart is immune to all trap cards. Which means he has no trouble to go after your monster, especially since Skyscraper is still in play. Go, Wild Slash!" The dark-skinned hero leapt in the air and grabbed his big sword from the hilt on his back. ( **ATK: 1500-2500** ) And then he sliced the sword across the fire hero.

"Nice one, Jaden." Andrew praised. "But since you destroyed my monster, you triggered the effect of my Supply Squad, allowing me to draw one card from my deck." He explained while drawing a card.

"You better get a good one. I end my turn." Jaden concluded.

"Then it's my turn." Andrew a card and looked at it. He widened his eyes. _'This card. I haven't used it for a long time, despite of having it in my deck for so long.'_

* * *

 **Flashback**

A hand held up the card in question. And then, a female voice spoke up.

"You can have this card. So you have something to remember me with."

 **Flashback end**

* * *

 _'Since then, this card has been special to me.'_ Andrew thought while smiling.

Jaden looked at him confused, wondering what was with him. "Hey, is something wrong?"

Andrew snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head. "No, I'm fine. Anyway, I place one card facedown." He inserted a card into his duel disk. "And then I summon Zombina in defense mode." The monster that appeared was a little girl. Only... she was zombie-like, with a a bunch of stitches over her body. Her long hair was orange and appeared to have stitches as well. It also had a purple ribbon with blue polka dots and a small shovel. Her eyes had orange pupils while the sclera in her eyes was black instead of white. She was wearing a blue dress with a red ribbon tied around her waist and it could have looked better, if it wasn't a little worn out. She was also wearing a pair of brown shoes. Additionally, she was holding a little plushy in her hands and it had a few stitches, just like her. (ATK: 1400 **DEF: 1500** LV: 4)

"That's new." Shiori noted.

"That's one creepy girl." Syrus commented, almost shuddering at the sight of Andrew's new monster.

"Indeed, it is." Bastion agreed. "But it _is_ one useful monster."

"And how useful is it?" Matt asked.

"Well, I think we'll find out soon enough." Michael said.

"I've never seen that monster before." Jaden admitted. "Did you get her recently."

Andrew shook his head. "Actually, this card has been in my deck for a long time. I just haven't used it for a while. It means a lot to me."

"Really? What's so special about it?"

"That's a story for another day. Right now, let's focus on the duel."

"Whatever you say. I draw." Jaden drew a card. "And I play the spell card Pot of Greed. Now I can draw two cards." After drawing his extra cards, he placed one of them on his duel disk. "And now I summon Elemental HERO Avian!" The feathered green hero appeared next to the dark-skinned man. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1000 LV: 3) "Alright, Avian, time to take down that zombie girl! Quill Cascade!" The wind hero flew up and prepared to flap his wings.

"Sorry Jaden, but you just triggered my trap card, Trap Hole of Spikes." As soon as Andrew's trap card revealed itself, a hole was materialized right beneath Avian. And then, like the gravity became stronger, he fell right into it and exploded. "When you attack with a monster that was normal or special summoned this turn, my trap card destroys it, and you take damage equal to half of its original attack points."

Jaden groaned at the life point loss.

 **Jaden: 4000-3500**

"Whoops. Looks like the first one to lose life points is Jaden." Michael commented.

"And Andrew takes the lead." Matt added.

"And his Zombina keeps him safe from Wildheart's attack." Bastion said. "After all, his attack points are equal to her defense points, and Skyscraper won't work since her attack points are lower."

"Man, talk about bummer." Jaden said while scratching the back of his head.

"It seems you're a little unlucky today." Andrew replied.

Jaden shrugged. "Maybe now, but I'll repay you later. For now, I'll end my turn."

"Alright then." Andrew drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Ocean in attack mode." The aquatic hero appeared rose next to the zombie girl. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And that's all for now."

"Then here goes!" Jaden drew a card and looked at it. He smirked. "Sweetness! Just what I needed. But first, I'm summoning Elemental HERO Sparkman in attack mode!" The blue and golden, electric hero joined his sword wielding comrade. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "And to kick things up, I activate the equip spell, Spark Blaster." The familiar gun appeared in the electric hero's right hand. "Now Sparkman's got three shots and each one of them can change the battle mode of any monster on the field. And I'm gonna use one of them on your Zombina." Sparkman fired a ball of electricity that zapped the zombie girl and caused her to stand up. "And with that done, I'll let Sparkman take down your Ocean. Go, Static Shockwave!" The electric hero fired a stream of electricity from his left hand that destroyed the water hero.

 **Andrew:** **4000-3900**

"Not bad, but now I can draw another card from my deck, thanks to Supply Squad." Andrew said as he drew.

"Oh yeah? Well I still have Wildheart ready to go. Now attack his Zombina!" The dark-skinned man dashed forward and slashed the zombie girl with his sword.

 **Andrew: 3900-3800**

"Nice." Gerard commented. "He managed to destroy both of those monsters."

"That's Jaden for you." Syrus added. "He never takes long to make a comeback."

"Unfortunately, Jaden made a mistake." Bastion said, making everyone look at him.

"What do you mean?" Chumley asked.

And it was then a pillar of light appeared on Andrew's field. And what happened next was something Jaden didn't expect. Someone stepped out of the pillar, and it was none other than Ocean. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Um, wasn't he destroyed a moment ago?"

Andrew smiled. "He was, but you allowed him to come back by attacking Zombina." He explained. "You see, if my opponent destroys her and send her to the graveyard, I can summon any other monster from there, as long as it's level 4 or less."

"Wow! That's a handy special ability." Shiori commented.

"You can say that again." Matt replied.

"And with Ocean back on the field, Jaden better watch out." Michael said.

"Alright, I end my turn." Jaden concluded.

Andrew drew a card. "In that case, I'll start by using Ocean's ability. Now I can take a HERO monster from my field or graveyard and add it to my hand. And I choose Heat." The named card came out of the graveyard slot before he placed it in his hand. "And now I summon Elemental HERO Stratos." A whirlwind appeared, and out of it, came the turbine winged hero. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 300 LV: 4) "And now with him summoned, his special ability activates. For every other HERO monster I control, one spell or trap card is destroyed. There goes your Skyscraper."

Jaden could only watch as the buildings disappeared one by one. "That's not good."

"Now Jaden's heroes can't get extra points." Syrus pointed out.

"Which essentially means he's at disadvantage now." Bastion added.

"Now Stratos, attack his Sparkman!" The wind hero used the turbine wings to create a cyclone that enveloped the electric hero until he disappeared.

 **Jaden: 3500-3300**

"And I think I'll end my turn."

"My turn." Jaden drew a card. "Alright, first I play the spell card The Warrior Returning Alive. Now I can take back a warrior type monster from my graveyard, like Bladedge." The named card came out of his graveyard slot. "And now I activate the spell card Polymerization, and combine Wildheart with Bladedge to form Elemental HERO Wildedge!" The two heroes were sucked into a fusion vortex, and the fusion monster that came out of it looked like Wildheart, but with a different outfit. He was wearing parts from Bladedge's armor. One part covered his right leg, and another part covered his left arm. Additionally, there were a bunch of blades attached to that arm. The hero was also wearing a helmet that used to be Bladedge's head. And there was a large sword strapped on his back. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2300 LV: 8)

"Hey, another new hero." Matt noted.

"Looks like Andrew isn't the only one full of surprises." Shiori added.

Even Andrew was surprised. "Wow! I've never seen that before." He commented.

"If you like him now, just wait until you see what he can do. Now Wildedge, attack his Ocean with Scimitar Slash!" The new hero fired one of the blades from his arm and it slashed the water hero, making him explode.

 **Andrew: 3800-2700**

"Impressive, but once again, Supply Squad lets me draw a card." Andrew drew his next card.

Jaden smirked. "You better need it because Wildedge is not finished yet. Know why? Because he has the power to attack every monster on your field."

"Say what!?" Andrew exclaimed. The hero dashed forward, took the large sword from his back and slashed Stratos with it.

 **Andrew: 2700-1900**

"And that's all she wrote." Jaden concluded.

"This duel is looking pretty good." Sheppard commented.

"Indeed." Banner replied. "It's clear that none of them is giving up."

"Well, looks like Jaden has taken the lead now." Zane said.

"I'm not surprised." Alexis replied. "He always turn things around when the odds are against him."

"But Andrew will no doubt make a comeback." Jenny pitched in.

"Okay, that was an impressive comeback." Andrew commented.

"Why thank you." Jaden replied. "You think you can take down my Wildedge?"

"Only one way to find out." Andrew drew a card and looked at his hand. _'Hmm, none of these can take down that hero, or rather, not destroy him.'_ Andrew took two cards from his hand. "I place a monster and another card facedown." Two facedown cards appeared. "That's it for now."

"Not much, huh?" Jaden said. "Oh well, my move then." He drew a card.

"I activate my trap…" Andrew's facedown card flipped up. "Waboku. This keeps all monsters on my field from being destroyed in battle during this turn, and I also take no damage."

"Then Andrew's monster is safe." Shiori said.

"Yes, indeed." Bastion added. "But I wonder what his facedown monster could be. Surely his trap card would have been better use when his life points where at risk, not his monster."

"Maybe it's a monster with an effect that he want to use during his turn?" Matt wondered.

"If so, then what kind of monster could it be?" Michael wondered.

Jaden raised an eyebrow. _'That's weird, he could have waited for a better moment to use that trap card. Like when he's about to take damage. So why would he use it right away?'_ He eyed on Andrew's facedown monster. _'I wonder...'_ And then… "Go Wildedge! Attack his facedown monster!"

Many people were surprised by this, especially Andrew. "What the…!?"

"Huh? Why is he attacking?" Syrus asked. "Andrew's monster can't be destroyed because of Waboku."

"Yeah, what's the point?" Gerard wondered.

"Looks like Jaden is eager to find out what Andrew is hiding." Zane said.

"Then let's see what it is." Alexis added.

Wildedge dashed forward and raised his sword. And then, he used his it to cut the facedown card in half. After that, it was replaced by a familiar brown potted plant. (ATK: 500 **DEF: 500** LV: 3)

Jenny's eyes widened. "Fiber Jar!"

Jaden smiled. "So that's what you were hiding."

Andrew sighed before smiling. "That's right. My plan was to keep you from attacking, so I could use Fiber Jar's flip effect on my turn. But apparently that didn't work. Anyway…" All the cards, including the monsters disappeared. "Due to Fiber Jar's effect, all cards we have on the field, and in our hands and the graveyard goes back to our decks. And then, after we have shuffled them, we must draw 5 new cards." At that, both duelists gathered all their cards and shuffled them up. And they drew their new hands.

"Alright! Then let's get a new start. I summon Elemental HERO Clayman in defense mode." The stone hero appeared and kneeled down with his arms crossed. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4) "Next I'll throw down 2 facedowns and play Mirage of Nightmare." Two facedown cards appeared along with the continuous spell card. "That ends my turn."

"Then it's my move." Andrew drew a card.

"And that triggers the effect of Mirage of Nightmare. During your standby, I get to draw until I have four cards in my hand." Jaden drew his extra cards. "And then I play Emergency Provisions." One of his facedown cards revealed itself. "Now I'll toss out my Mirage card to regain 1000 life points." The continuous spell card disappeared.

 **Jaden: 3300-4300**

"I think I'll draw extra cards as well, and I'll do it by playing Pot of Greed. So, two cards for me." Andrew drew two extra cards. "And next I summon Elemental HERO Wildheart."

Jaden watched as Andrew summoned the familiar, dark-skinned warrior. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1600 LV: 4) "Is there any hero in your deck that isn't the same as one of my heroes?" He asked.

Andrew smirked. "It's funny that you asked, because I'm about to play something new. But first I play this, the spell card A HERO's Bond. With a hero on my field, I can summon two level 4 or lower Elemental heroes from my hand. And I choose Knospe and Lady heat." The little plant hero, along with the red and white clad fire heroine joined their comrade. ( **ATK: 600** DEF: 1000 LV: 3) ( **ATK: 1300** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "And now I activate the spell card Rose Bud." He held up the named card. "With this card, I can make Knospe even more powerful."

That made Jaden really curious. "Really? And how much more powerful are we talking about?"

"By sacrificing her, I can summon her true form." The plant monster's body glowed brightly and was enveloped by a whirlwind of flower petals. Inside the whirlwind, the plant hero became bigger.

"Never thought that little monster had some hidden power." Matt said.

"Me neither." Shiori admitted. "Let's see what Andrew is about to unleash."

The whirlwind surrounded Andrew's monster for few more seconds before it died down, and so did the light. At that, everyone could see the plant monster's new form. It was a young, purple skinned woman, clad in a knee-leangth dress made of leaves, he hair formed from daisy petals, a gold belt around her waist set with an amethyst. She twirled like a ballerina. ( **ATK: 1900** DEF: 2000 LV: 6) "This is Knospe's true form; Elemental HERO Poison Rose."

"Wow, that's what I call a sweet move." Jaden complimented.

Unlike Jaden, many boys were looking at Andrew's new monster dreamily.

"Wow! Look at her." Syrus said with a blush on his face.

"Well, what do you know? It really is a woman." Michael said. "I was actually skeptical about what Andrew said about her."

"That makes two of us." Shiori added.

"Now it's time to take down your Clayman. But first I activate the spell card Enemy Controller, and I'll use its effect to change his battle mode." The stone hero stood up. "Now Poison Rose, attack his Clayman with Blossom Kick!" The woman spun on herself and gave the stone hero a strong that destroyed him.

 **Jaden: 4300-3200**

"I play my trap, Hero Signal!" Jaden's facedown card flipped up. "Now I can summon an Elemental HERO from my hand or deck, as long as it's level 4 or less. So let's welcome back to my old friend, Sparkman!" The blue and golden hero appeared once again." ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1400 LV: 4)

"Nice, but don't get ahead of yourself. Since Poison Rose caused battle damage, her special ability kicks in. She gains 200 attack points but loses 200 defense points." The plant heroine gave off a grass-green aura. ( **ATK: 1900-2100** DEF: 2000-1800)

"I see now why that monster is stronger than its weaker form." Jenny commented.

"Yeah, but that's not something Jaden can't handle." Alexis replied.

"I place a card facedown…" Andrew inserted the last card from his hand into his duel disk. "and let my Lady Heat activate her special ability. At the end of my turn, you take 200 points of damage for every Elemental HERO I control." The fire heroine created a fireball and threw it at Jaden.

 **Jaden: 3200-2600**

"Now their life points are getting closer to each other." Matt pointed out.

"Yes, but Jaden only has one monster on the field, while Andrew has three on his side, staring down at him." Bastion added.

"But Jaden can turn this around." Syrus said confidently.

"Yeah, totally." Chumley added.

"Here goes!" Jaden drew a card. "First I play the spell card O-Oversoul. This lets me summon a normal Elemental HERO from my graveyard. So I'll bring back my Clayman." The stone hero appeared next to his electric comrade. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 2000 LV: 4) "And now I activate the spell card Polymerization. And with it, I fuse Clayman and Sparkman to form Elemental HERO Thunder Giant!" The two heroes entered the fusion vortex and came out as the yellow, giant, electric hero. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 1500 LV: 6) "And now, thanks to his special ability, he can destroy a monster whose original attack points are less than his own. Alright Thunder Giant, zap his Poison Rose with Static Blast!" The giant held out his right hand and shot a stream of electricity.

"I activate Elemental Recharge!" Andrew's facedown card revealed itself. "This trap card gives me 1000 life points for every Elemental HERO I have."

 **Andrew: 1900-4900**

Not too long after Andrew's life points increased, Poison Rose was struck by the electric shot from Thunder Giant.

"You're going to need them, because Thunder Giant still has his attack. Go, Voltic Thunder!" The giant fired another stream of electricity. And this time, Lady Heat was the one who was struck by it.

 **Andrew: 4900-3800**

"I'll throw down a facedown and let you go." Jaden inserted a card into his duel disk.

"My turn." Andrew drew. "And I play the spell card Legacy of a Hero. With at least two level 4 or higher Elemental heroes in my graveyard, I can draw three cards from my deck." Andrew drew his extra cards. "And I'm gonna use one of them, the spell card Mask Change." Wildheart glowed brightly. "Now I can send my HERO monster to the graveyard and summon a Masked HERO with the same attribute. So in Wildheart's place, I summon Masked HERO Dian!" The swordsman was then transformed into the warrior in silver armor. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 3000 LV: 8)

"He actually traded one monster for something as strong as that?" Gerard asked.

Michael smirked. "Got that right. The Masked heroes are very strong. Each one of them is more powerful than next."

"Those heroes are the best monsters in Andrew's deck." Shiori added.

"Impressive." Zane said. "That Masked hero is more than strong enough to destroy Thunder Giant."

"I knew Andrew would make a comeback." Jenny said.

"Come on, Jaden. You can win this." Alexis encouraged him.

"Now Dian, attack his Thunder Giant." The silver armored hero dashed forward, ready to strike down with her sword.

"Activate trap! Negate Attack!" Jaden's facedown card flipped up and created a barrier that blocked the attack. Jaden smirked. "Sorry Andrew, but thanks to my trap card, your attack is cancelled."

"I end my turn with a facedown card." A card appeared behind the Masked hero."

"Here goes!" Jaden announced as he drew. "Sweet! I activate the spell card Spy Hero. By sending two random cards from my deck to the graveyard, I can take a spell card from your graveyard." A man in a dark purple and gray suit with a red 'H' on his chest appeared before he became invisible.

Andrew looked around, wondering where he was. He then gasped when he felt something touching his duel disk. He realized that it was the Spy Hero, who caused one of his cards come out of the graveyard slot and fly over to Jaden who caught it.

"And I choose Legacy of a Hero. So just like you, I'll draw three cards since I have two level 4 Elemental heroes in my graveyard." Jaden drew three cards. "And I think I'll play one them, H-Heated Heart! This spell card gives Thunder Giant 500 attack points, making him stronger." A blue, glowing 'H' came out of the spell card and entered the hero's body. ( **ATK: 2400-2900** ) "Then I'll play this spell, R-Righteous Justice! This lets me destroy one spell or trap card for every Elemental HERO I have, so say goodbye to your facedown card." A glowing 'R' came out from the spell card and approached Andrew's field.

"Big mistake, Jaden!" Andrew said, making his opponent confused, before the facedown card flipped up. "I activate the trap card, Blast with Chain. And I'll add it to my Dian, giving her 500 attack points." The Masked hero glowed. ( **ATK: 2800-3300** ) The glowing 'R' collided with its target and destroyed it. ( **ATK: 3300-2800** ) "And now for my trap card's second effect! After being destroyed by a card effect while equipped to a monster, it destroys one card on the field. Guess who?"

"Uh oh." Jaden turned to his electric hero who exploded.

"And there goes Thunder Giant." Matt commented.

"Aw man, Jaden fell right into that one." Syrus said.

"Yeah, that trap card is very tricky." Shiori added.

"Now the question is, what will Jaden do next?" Bastion wondered.

"Wow! Sweet move, Andrew. I didn't see that coming." Jaden complimented.

Andrew smiled. "Thank you. I hope you're not disappointed."

"No worries, bro. I've still got some moves left, starting with this." Jaden held up another spell card. "Dark Factory of Mass Production. Now I can take two normal monsters from my graveyard and add them to my hand. So I'll take back Sparkman and Clayman." The named cards came out of the graveyard slot and he placed them in his hand. "And now I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode." The brown furry monster with wings cooed when he appeared. (ATK: 300 **DEF: 200** LV: 1) "Then I'll throw down a facedown and end my turn" Jaden concluded as he inserted a card into his duel disk.

"My turn." Andrew drew. "Now Dian, Attack" The silver armored hero dashed forward.

Jaden smirked. "Hold it, Andrew! I discard two cards from my hand and activate my facedown card." As soon as he discarded his two remaining cards, his facedown card revealed itself. "Transcendent Wings!" His duel spirit partner cooed as he glowed brightly and transformed. When the light down, he was now in his evolved form. ( **ATK: 300** DEF: 200 LV: 10) "Thanks to my spell, Winged Kuriboh is now in his level 10 form, giving him a super sweet ability. Bu sacrificing himself, he can destroy all monsters you have on the field in attack mode, and you take damage equal to their original attack points." The Masked hero stabbed the now stronger Winged Kuriboh. And then, he glowed brightly again, only this time, he exploded, taking the hero down in the process.

 **Andrew: 3800-1000**

"Whoa! Jaden destroyed Andrew's monster _and_ caused a lot of damage." Matt noted.

"That's incredible." Gerard added.

"So much for that attack." Andrew said while scratching the back of his head.

"Sorry about that." Jaden apologized.

"Don't be. I'm not giving up that easily. I play a facedown monster in defense mode and end my turn." A facedown card appeared in front of Andrew.

"Then here goes." Jaden drew a card. "And I'll play the spell card Fifth Hope. This lets me take 5 Elemental heroes from my graveyard and shuffle them back into my deck." After five cards came out of the graveyard slot, the spirits of five heroes appeared behind him. Three of them were Sparkman, Clayman and Thunder Giant. The other two was who Andrew didn't expect.

"Avian and Burstinatrix."

Jaden nodded. "That's right. These two were the cards I discarded for Spy Hero. Talk about lucky huh?"

Andrew smiled. "Definitely."

Jaden took the five cards and shuffled them into his deck. "Now then, due to Fifth Hope's effect, I can now draw two cards from my deck, plus another card since I have nothing in play." He drew his three extra cards. "And now I summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman in attack mode." The blue-armored water hero appeared. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And as you know, he lets me draw two more cards." He drew two more cards. "And now I'll equip him with Bubble Blaster, and you know what that means." The familiar bazooka appeared on Bubbleman's shoulder. ( **ATK: 800-1600** ) "Alright Bubbleman, let's see what's hiding under that card!"

The water hero fired a stream of bubbles at the facedown monster. It flipped up to reveal a certain masked skeleton with a crimson red cape. (ATK: 600 **DEF: 700** LV: 3) And then, he was destroyed.

"You attacked Phantom Magician. And since he was destroyed in battle, I can summon a HERO monster from my deck in defense mode, as long as its attack points are up to 1000. And I think I'll summon my own Bubbleman." A duplicate of Jaden's monster appeared and kneeled down with arms crossed. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 1200** LV: 4) "And just like you, I'll use his ability to draw two cards." Andrew drew.

"Fine by me. I end my turn.

"Now then." Andrew drew. "I activate the spell card Mask Change II. By discarding one card from my hand, I can send a monster from my field to the graveyard and then summon a Masked HERO with the same attribute but higher level than that monster." Andrew discarded one of his cards. "Now Bubbleman, transform into Masked HERO Acid!" The light-blue water hero glowed and transformed into the dark-blue armored warrior with his gun in his hand. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2100 LV: 8)

"This isn't good." Jaden commented.

"It gets worse. Because due to his special ability, Acid destroys all spells and traps on your field." The hero fired a stream of acid that destroyed the Bazooka on Bublleman's shoulder. ( **ATK: 1600-800** ) "And if that was successful, your monster loses 300 attack points." ( **ATK: 800-500** ) "Now Acid, attack Bubbleman with Acid Blast!" The masked hero fired another stream of acid that destroyed Jaden's monster.

 **Jaden: 2600-0500**

"And with that, I end my turn."

"Andrew has Jaden in a tight spot now." Zane noted.

"No kidding." Jenny replied. "Not only is Jaden down to 500 life points, but Andrew has a powerful monster on his side."

"Come one, Jaden." Alexis muttered.

Jenny gave Alexis a teasing look. "Are you worried about your Jaden?"

Alexis turned to her. "Of course. He's my friend and…" But then, Jenny's question began to sink in, making the blonde blush a little. "Wait a minute? What do you mean _my_ Jaden!?"

Jenny giggled. "Nothing."

Alexis gave her a sour huff and concentrated on the match.

If Zane was amused by their talk, he hid it quite well.

"Okay, I have no monsters on the field, and my life points are almost gone. But still, I can get out of this situation!"

"Then bring it." Andrew said.

Jaden smirked. "You got it. Here goes!" He drew a card. "First I play the spell card E-Emergency Call. Now I can take an Elemental HERO from my deck and add it to my hand, like Burstinatrix." He took the named card from his deck and held it up.

"Okay, You've played Heated Heart, Emergency Call, Righteous Justice and Oversoul." Andrew noted. "As far as I know, there is a certain spell card that works along with them."

"You're right, and it's this card." Jaden held up another card. "Hero Flash! This lets me remove all four of those cards from play in order to summon a normal Elemental HERO from my deck... like Avian." First, the four letters from the four spell cards appeared to form the word 'HERO' and flashed brightly. And then, the green, feather-winged hero appeared. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1000 LV: 3) "And here comes the second effect of Hero Flash; all normal Elemental heroes I control can attack you directly."

Andrew gasped.

"Dude, that means Jaden can get past Acid." Michael realized.

"And Avian has enough attack points to end this duel." Matt added.

"Awesome!" Syrus cheered.

"Lishus!"

"Alright Avian, let him have it! Quill Cascade!" The wind hero spread his wings and fired a flurry of white feathers. Everyone watched as they got closer to Andrew. "Game over!"

"Not yet!" Andrew countered as he was suddenly surrounded by an electric barrier that blocked the attack. He then smirked. "Nice try, Jaden. But this duel is not over yet."

"Um, what just happened?" Jaden asked dumbly.

"Come on, Jaden. Like you wouldn't know." Andrew held up a card that he recognized.

"Electromagnetic Turtle!"

"That's right. I discarded it earlier when I played Mask Change II, so I was prepared for your attack."

Jaden was silent for a moment before he laughed. "Man, I gotta say, you're really good, Andrew."

Andrew smiled. "Thanks. You too."

"Well, this has to be one of the best duels in Duel Academy history." Sheppard commented.

"That is so true." Banner agreed.

"I never thought it was possible, but this duel is getting better." Gerard said.

"That's true." Shiori said while smiling.

"Indeed." Bastion agreed.

"Yeah." Syrus said.

"Totally." Chumley agreed.

"Both of them just refuse to lose." Michael added.

"Got that right." Matt replied.

"I'll throw down a facedown and end my turn." Jaden concluded as inserted a card into his duel disk.

"My move." Andrew drew a card and looked at it. _'If this attack won't get through, then I'm going to need this.'_ Andrew placed the card into his hand. "Now Acid, take down Avian!" The masked hero was about to fire with his gun.

"Hold it right there! I activate Hero Ring!" Jaden's facedown card flipped up and disappeared. It then was replaced by a red shield that got attached to Avian's right arm, and he held it up. Andrew's monster fired another stream of acid, only for it to get blocked by the shield. "Thanks to my trap card, Avian is safe from attacks by monsters that has 1900 or more attack points."

Andrew smiled. "Not bad." He then looked at the card he drew. _'I guess this is it. Knowing Jaden, he's going to pull off something big to take down Acid.'_ He then inserted the card into his duel disk. "I end my turn with a facedown."

"Those two have been dueling with everything the have since the beginning." Alexis said.

"And something tells me, this is the last turn." Jenny added.

"Then let's see who is going out as a winner."

"My turn." Jaden drew a card and smirked at what he got. "I hope you're ready Andrew. Cuz I'm about to take your Acid down."

Andrew smirked in return. "Then show me what you have up your sleeve."

"With pleasure! First I play Polymerization to fuse Avian on the field and Burstinatrix in my hand in order to create the one and only Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!" The green and red heroes merged together and formed Jaden's Headliner. ( **ATK: 2100** DEF: 1200 LV: 6) "And guess what. The card I just drew is the one that brings us to my favorite city. Skyscraper!" He inserted the named card into his duel disk and both duelists were surrounded by tall buildings, once again.

Andrew smiled. "So this is how it's going to be huh?"

"Got that right. Since your monster is stronger than Flame Wingman, he gains 1000 attack points."

"Simply remarkable." Bastion said. "Now Jaden has a monster strong enough to take down Acid."

"And not just that." Matt replied. "When Flame Wingman destroys a monster in battle, that monster's attack points are dealt to the opponent as damage."

"Then Jaden's going to win!" Syrus cheered.

"Unless Andrew has a way stop him." Michael said.

Shiori eyed on Andrew's field. "That's right. His facedown card."

"Now Flame Wingman! Attack Masked HERO Acid with Skydive Scorcher!" The red and green hero jumped off from the highest building and dived toward his opponent.

"Thanks for this duel, Jaden. It was great." Andrew complimented his friend.

"Thanks Andrew. You played well."

Andrew smiled. "And I'm not done just yet. If I'm going down, I'll take you with me. Activate facedown!" His facedown card flipped. "Final Fusion!"

"What does that do?"

"I can only activate it when both of our fusion monsters are battling each other. Due to to its effect, the attack is negated and both players take damage equal to their combined attack points."

Jaden widened his eyes in shock. But that lasted for a moment before he smiled. "Well in that case… Go, Flame Wingman!"

"Acid!"

The green hero got closer as the masked hero aimed his gun at him and fired a stream of acid. That caused a massive explosion, a huge cloud covering the dueling platform. When the resulting smoke cleared, both monsters were gone, along with the buildings, and both duelists had fallen down to one knee.

 **Andrew: 1000-0000**

 **Jaden: 0500-0000**

The people in the audience remained silent for a moment longer and then, they suddenly burst out on cheer as if they'd never done it before.

"Way to play!" Syrus exclaimed.

"That was totally lishus!" Chumley added.

"Yes, simply amazing." Bastion agreed.

"That was awesome!" Shiori cheered.

"You said it!" Matt agreed.

"Really cool!" Michael added.

"Looks like neither of them was going to walk out of here with two wins." Zane said.

"It appears so." Jenny replied. "But they gave everyone quite a show."

"No joke." Alexis agreed.

Andrew and Jaden walked up to each other and shook hands.

"Well Andrew, I guess we have to duel again someday." Jaden said.

"Yeah. But this one was fun, wasn't it?" Andrew asked.

"You bet it was."

Bastion and the others came down to congratulate them. "Good show, you two."

"You guys were amazing!" Shiori praised.

"Yeah, what a duel." Gerard added.

Bastion had then a thoughtful look on his face. "But this duel ended with a draw, so who's going to represent Duel Academy?"

"Don't worry. I have a solution for that." Sheppard said as he walked up to them. "Just earlier today, I had a call from the Chancellor of North Academy, and he told me that he had three candidates of his own dueling each other for the spot. But according to him, it all ended with a draw. So, he suggested that the School Duel of this year could be three separate matches where the academy with most victories becomes the winner. So I'm glad to say that all three of you will represent Duel Academy."

Everyone hearing this cheered loudly.

"No way! For real!?" Jaden asked.

"My, this is unexpected." Bastion said with a smiled.

"This is great!" Andrew said, smiling as well.

"Alright you guys!" Syrus exclaimed.

"So, all three of them are representatives?" Matt asked.

"It appears so." Michael replied.

"Then what was the whole point of the duel off?" Shiori wondered. Michael and Matt just shrugged, not having a clue.

Crowler was sitting down at the platform, not being happy about a certain detail of this result. "I can't believe it. That Slifer Slacker is representing us, representing me."

Jaden pumped his fist in the air. "Alright! School Duel, get your game on, cuz here we come!"

* * *

Later that day, Gerard was walking away from the Academy building. After all that fun, he decided that it was time for him to leave the island. As he was walking, he noticed a certain, purple-haired Slifer standing in front of him. "So you're going home now." Matt asked, with a look that said that he still didn't trust him.

Gerard just smiled and looked at the academy building. "Yeah. I have no reason to be here anymore. But I'm glad I came here. I mean, I found some secrets that would ruin Duel Academy." As he spoke, he took out the disk with missing students data from his pocket. "But by doing so, I ended up watching a duel that reminded me what dueling is all about. And for that, I don't want to ruin this place. Instead, I want to help to find the missing students." He then approached Matt and handed over the disk, to the boy's confusion. "And I think you and the others can have a good use for this."

Matt just blinked, not knowing what to say.

"Well then, I better get going. Goodbye, and good luck." At that, Gerard walked away.

Matt stared at the walking man for a moment and then glanced at the disk he was given before he smiled. "Well, that's good to hear." He then headed to the Slifer dorm."

* * *

Somewhere else, far far away, someone was sitting in a room in building. The only light source was the sun light that came through the window. The person inside was sitting on a chair in the shadows, making it hard to see who it was. Right now he was talking to someone through the phone. "Ah, so you managed to get three representatives? That's good, Sheppard. Well then, I look forward to the upcoming school duel. Of course. Goodbye." The person turned off his phone, got up from the chair, and walked up to the window to look up to the sky. "And so it begins. Now all that's left to find a third representative. What Sheppard don't know is that I lied about having three representatives. Two of my dear students have proven themselves to be good enough. And as good as Czar is, I believe that there is someone out there that might be a better candidate for the third spot."

* * *

 **And that's it. Andrew and Jaden had finally faced each other in a duel. Until next time.**


	30. Chapter 30

**Practice Makes... Mokey?**

The School Duel Between Duel Academy and North Academy was just a few days away. The faculty members and students were generally relaxing, among other things. One of the people was in one of the outside levels of the academy building. That someone was Andrew. He was sitting on the floor, leaning against one of the pillars with his duel disk set aside. He was arranging his deck for the moment.

"Let's see." He muttered. "I'll keep this monster, and take out this spell card, and maybe add this card." He then picked up the card representing his duel spirit, who decided to show up. "What's up?"

 _"I'm doing fine."_ Phantom Magician replied. _"I see you're working hard here."_

"Yeah, I have to prepare myself since I've been chosen as one of the representatives of for the School Duel."

 _"It won't be easy, but I'm sure you'll be_ fine."

Andrew smiled. "Well, with you and my other monsters by my side, everything's going to be okay."

 _"Hm."_ Phantom Magician nodded.

"Hey, Andrew!" Jenny's voice called out from the stairs leading to the roof.

"Oh, Jenny." Andrew said.

 _"Guess I better leave you two alone, then."_ The spirit said before he disappeared.

Andrew almost blushed because of Phantom Magician's comment.

"There you are." Jenny said as she joined him on the roof, followed by Alexis.

"Hey girls." He greeted them. "How are you doing?"

"Pretty good." Jenny answered.

"Same here." Alexis added. "So, how's your deck coming along?"

"I think it's looking good." Andrew replied. "I'm still considering to make a few changes."

"Are you nervous?" Jenny asked.

"Well, a little. But still, I can take anything North Academy can throw at me."

"You don't say." Alexis said. "Since you're so ready for the School Duel, maybe you wouldn't mind to take me on in a duel." She held up her duel disk.

Andrew nodded. "Sure, why not? I could use a little practice and I've never faced off against you before." He gathered the cards for his deck, picked up his duel disk, attached it to his arm before he inserted the deck into it and stood up. He and Alexis took their positions while Jenny was off to the side.

"Are you ready?" Alexis asked.

"Yeah."

"Let's duel!"

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Alexis: 4000**

"I'll go first." Alexis drew a card. "And I'll start with Cyber Tutu in attack mode!" A petite, pink-haired girl appeared. She was wearing a visor and dressed in red/white dance suit with ballet shoes and a tutu. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 800 LV: 3) "Then I'll end my turn with a facedown card." A card appeared behind the ballerina.

"My move." Andrew declared as he drew. "I summon Elemental HERO Ice Edge." The kid in his icy outfit appeared from a swirling blizzard. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 900 LV: 3) "And now I activate his special ability. By discarding one card from my hand, I can allow Ice Edge to bypass your monster and attack you directly." He slid a card into his graveyard slot.

"Hold it right there!" Alexis interrupted as she revealed her facedown card. "I activate the trap card Pure Pupil! If I control a monster with up to 1000 attack points, I can use this to negate your monster's ability and destroy it." Her ballerina glowed before she dashed forward and gave the hero a kick that destroyed him.

"Didn't see that coming." Andrew commented. "I place a card facedown and end my turn." He concluded as a card appeared on his field.

"I draw." Alexis said and began her next turn. "Now I play the spell card Angel Wing, and I'll equip this card to Cyber Tutu." From a flash of light, the ballerina got a pair of white feather wings. "Now Cyber Tutu, attack him directly!" At that, the ballerina flew up in the air.

"I don't think so! I activate Call of the Haunted!" Andrew's facedown card flipped up." Now I can summon a monster back from my graveyard, and before you ask, I'm gonna summon the one I discarded for Ice Edge's effect. Now come forth, Elemental HERO Bladedge!" The golden armored hero rose up on the field. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 1800 LV: 7) "Now my life points are safe."

Alexis closed her eyes and smiled. "I wouldn't say that."

Andrew blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Just because your monster has more attack points doesn't mean your life points are safe." She then opened her eyes. "You see, if all monsters on your field has more attack points than Cyber Tutu, she can attack you directly."

Andrew's eyes widened. "No way!"

"Go Pounding Pirouette!" The ballerina flew over to Andrew's field, past the hero, and spun around to deliver a kick to his face.

"Ow!" He grunted while rubbing his face.

 **Andrew: 4000-3000**

"Don't think you're free from the pain just yet. Because since my monster caused you battle damage, Angel Wing will cause you to lose another 300 life points."

"Say what?" Was all Andrew could say before Cyber Tutu gave him another kick, only this time, it landed on his belly. "Ooff!"

 **Andrew: 3000-2700**

"I end my turn with a facedown." Alexis concluded as she inserted a card into her duel disk.

"My turn." Andrew drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Stratos in attack mode!" The turbine winged hero appeared next to the golden hero. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 300 LV: 4) "And with him summoned, I can destroy one spell or trap card for every other HERO monster I have. Say goodbye to your facedown card." The wind hero created a cyclone that sped towards Alexis' field.

"Then I'll just activate it before it gets destroyed." She said as she discarded a card before revealing her facedown card. "I activate Hallowed Life Barrier. This trap card keeps me from taking any damage this turn, and my monster is safe as well." The card created a barrier that surrounded Alexis before it was destroyed by the cyclone.

"Then my monster's ability has been wasted." Andrew realized.

"Got that right. You're getting predictable."

"She's right, Andrew." Jenny added. "If you don't keep it up, you might not do well at the School Duel."

"I'll keep that in mind. I end my turn with a facedown." Andrew concluded as a card appeared behind the golden hero.

"My move." Alexis drew. "And I activate the spell card Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two cards." She drew her two extra cards. "Next I activate the spell card Polymerization and fuse Etoile Cyber and Blade Skater to create Cyber Blader." Two monsters appeared in front of a fusion vortex. One of them was a red haired woman dressed in a red and bluish leotard. The other one was bald woman who was gray and purple skinned and had skate blades on her arms and feet. After they entered the fusion vortex and fused together, a much different woman appeared. She had long, dark-blue hair, dressed in a purple and red leotard, with a red visor and skates. ( **ATK: 2100** DEF: 800 LV: 7) "This monster has a special ability that changes depending on the number of monsters on your field. So with two monsters, her attack points are doubled." The skater glowed with a bluish aura. ( **ATK: 2100-4200** )

Andrew couldn't help but take a step back. "This is gonna hurt."

"Now Cyber Blader, attack Stratos with Whirlwind Rage!"

"I activate Elemental Recharge!" Andrew's facedown card flipped up. "This card gives a thousand life points for every Elemental HERO I have."

 **Andrew: 2700-4700**

The skater spun on herself and slashed the turbine winged hero with her skate. ( **ATK: 4200-2100** )

 **Andrew: 4700-2300**

"Not bad, but I still have Cyber Tutu. Go, Pounding Pirouette!" The ballerina spun around and gave Andrew another kick on his face.

"Ow, seriously!? Why my face!?" He complained while rubbing his face.

 **Andrew: 2300-1300**

"And don't forget, Angel Wing takes away 300 more points from you." Alexis reminded him.

 **Andrew: 1300-1000**

"Nice move, Alexis." Jenny commented.

"I end my turn with a facedown card." Alexis concluded as she placed a card behind Cyber Blader.

"Then here goes." Andrew drew a card. "Since Bladedge is the only monster on my field, he can destroy your Cyber Blader. But I think I'll start with your Cyber Tutu. Now attack with Slice and Dice Attack!" Jet like wings extended from the golden hero's back and he flew across the field.

"I activate my trap card…" Alexis said as she revealed her facedown card. "Spirit Barrier! As long as I have at least one monster on the field, I take no battle damage." She was then surrounded by a barrier that protected from the explosion caused by Bladedge destroying Cyber Tutu with his blades

"Just when I thought I was about to cause battle damage." Andrew mused.

"Better luck next time." Jenny said.

"Speaking of luck…" Alexis spoke up. "Thanks to you, Angel Wing was destroyed. And this triggers its second effect, allowing me to draw one card from my deck." She drew a card.

Andrew then took a card from his hand and inserted it into his duel disk. "I place a card facedown and end my turn."

"Now then…" Alexis drew. She saw what she got and smiled. "And now I play this, the spell card Demotion." When the spell card appeared, it unleashed a purple aura that surrounded the skater. "By equipping this card to my Cyber Blader, I can downgrade her by two levels, meaning she's a level 5 monster now." (LV: 7-5)

"And why would you do that?" Andrew asked.

"Simple, so I can use another equip spell on her." Alexis held up the card in question. "The spell card, Fusion Weapon." The skater's right arm transformed into a red trident. "This spell card can only be equipped to a fusion monster whose level is 6 or lower, giving that monster 1500 attack and defense points." ( **ATK: 2100-3600** DEF: 800-2300)

"Whoa!" Andrew gasped.

"Now Blader, attack Bladedge with Trident Shock!" The skater shot a blast of electricity from her trident.

"I activate Waboku!" Andrew's facedown card flipped up and created a barrier that blocked the blast. "Not only can't my monster be destroyed in battle this turn, but I take no battle damage."

Alexis nodded. "Then you're still in this. But how do you plan to get out of this?"

"That's a good question." Andrew then glanced at his duel deck. "But I will figure out something." He then placed his fingers on it. "I draw." After drawing his card, he held it up. "I play my own Pot of Greed, so now I draw two cards as well." He drew his new cards and looked at them, before he smiled. "This will do."

Alexis and Jenny reacted at that.

"I play Polymerization and fuse Elemental HERO Bladedge on the field, with Shadow Mist and Voltic in my hand in order to form Elemental HERO Core!" The jet winged hero entered a fusion vortex along with the black armored woman and the purple and golden, electric hero. And then, in their place, appeared the hero clad in white armor with red lines and gems. ( **ATK: 2700** DEF: 2200 LV: 9) "And since Shadow Mist was sent to the graveyard, I can take a HERO monster from my deck and add it to my hand, like Lady heat." He took the named card from his deck and placed it into his hand. "Then I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." Andrew concluded as a card appeared behind the hero.

Alexis raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I didn't expect that." She commented as she drew her next card and looked at it. "Not that it was a clever move." She revealed her new card. "I activate the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon. This lets me destroy one spell or trap card on the field." A tornado emerged from her card and shattered Andrew's facedown card to pixels.

"So much for Mirror Force." Andrew commented.

"So you thought you could trick me to attack you, so you could strike back."

Andrew scratched the back of his head. "Something like that."

Alexis smirked. "Then it's too bad that your plan failed. Looks like you need more practice. Right after this! Cyber Blader, attack!" The skater fired another blast of electricity.

But before the attack reached its target, Andrew laughed, making both Obelisk girls confused. "Sorry Alexis, but I'm afraid my plan still works."

Alexis widened her eyes. "What are you talking about."

"I'm talking about Core's special ability. Once per turn, when he's targeted for an attack, I can double his attack points until the end of the damage step." The white and red hero roared as his body released his own electricity. ( **ATK: 2700-5400** )

"Wow!" Jenny exclaimed.

"No way!" Alexis said as her monster's electrical attack was useless against the hero's electrical protection. ( **ATK: 5400-2700** ) Alexis couldn't help but smile. "Impressive."

"Thank you. Didn't see that coming, did you?"

"Definitely not. But unfortunately for you, my Cyber Blader is still invincible in battle."

But Andrew smiled confidently. "Then it's a good thing my Core has another ability."

"Huh?"

"At the end of the battle phase, after he attacked or was attacked, I can destroy one monster on the field."

Both girls gasped.

"But that means…" Alexis said in realization.

"Your Cyber Blader is gone." The hero fired a stream of electricity that shocked the skater before she shattered into pixels.

"Incredible!" Jenny commented with an amazed tone.

"And now you have nothing to protect you from this." Andrew drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Lady Heat in attack mode!" The red and white clad fire heroine appeared right next to Andrew's fusion monster. ( **ATK: 1300** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "Now attack her life points directly!" The female hero created a fireball and threw it at Alexis.

 **Alexis: 4000-2700**

"And now Core, end this duel with Electromagnetic Induction!" The red gem on the white hero's chest glowed until it shot a blast of electricity that struck the Obelisk Queen.

 **Alexis: 2700-0000**

Alexis fell to one knee as the holograms disappeared.

"So, how did you like that?" Andrew asked.

"Nice dueling." Jenny complimented. "Both of you did well."

"Well done." Alexis said after getting up and approached Andrew. "With moves like that, I'm sure you'll be ready for the School Duel. Speaking of which…" She then surprised him by getting close to him and holding up one of her cards. "You've got some room in your deck for my Etoile Cyber? She could be really handy for you."

"You need something better." Jenny jumped in while holding up one of her own cards. "You could use something stronger, like Airknight Parshath."

"Umm." Andrew muttered as he thought things over. And then suddenly, they all heard a beeping from his duel pilot. "Excuse me." He said as he picked it up and answered it. "Hello?"

The person that appeared on the screen was Bastion. "Hello, Andrew. Am I interrupting something?"

"Not really." Andrew responded, ignoring the pouting expressions on Alexis and Jenny's faces. "So what's up?"

"Well, I just wanted to know if you wanted to meet up with me and Jaden to arrange our decks. I thought we could use one empty classroom for that."

Andrew smiled and nodded. "Sure, I'm in."

"Then I'll be waiting." At that, he turned of the duel pilot.

"Alright then, I'll see you girls later." Andrew said before he ran off.

The girls blinked twice before they ran after him. "WAIT!" They called out.

* * *

Meanwhile, Crowler was walking around in a secluded area in the forest. And he was obviously angry for a certain reason. "I can't believe Jaden is going to be one of Duel Academy's student representatives at the School Duel. What an embarrassment! I won't let it take place! NO NO NO NO! I'll do whatever I must to stop him." He laughed as he came to a small area surrounded by a large fence. "Which brings me here. To the site of Duel Academy's most dangerous specimen."

The area he entered was a chicken coop. It had two houses. One for the hens, and one for a group of roosters, which one of them alerted the hens when it saw him enter. "Oh, not you, birdbrains!" Crowler said, but was then attacked by the angry hens. "This is such a foul predicament!" He managed to get away from them for a moment and ran towards a sand box. He dug frantically at it until he found a hatch. "Ah, the secret entrance…" He said, opening the hatch. But then, the hens came back and gave him another round of pecking. "Ah, stay back! I don't want to ruffle any feathers!" He then fell down along with three of the hens. "You're really egging me on!"

He fell at the bottom with a thump. There was another hatch at the side, which he quickly went through. "Okay, the yoke's over!" He grabbed the hens and threw them through the entrance. "You belong in a bucket!" He then slammed the hatch in their faces. Crowler sighed in relief before he spoke. "It's just like they say, you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs." The room he entered had a bunch on suits on the side. They kinda looked some kind of space suits. He got up and started to put on one of those suits. "And now it's time to break Jaden... for good." Eventually, he was fully dressed with the suit, which included a set of eyewear like the ones you see on Star Trek. He opened the next door and stepped on a catwalk that extended towards a large, yellow dome in the middle of the room. "I mean, after all, with what is lurking in this containment vault, he's not going to stand a chance." Crowler swiped a card through a security reader and the dome's door split open.

"You there, Belowski?" He called out. "It's your old friend Dr. Crowler. It's a young duelist I'd like you to meet. I know it's been a while, but I think he deserves a lesson from the Academy's best." He then laughed loudly.

* * *

Later on, Andrew, Bastion and Jaden were going through their decks and arranging them in an empty classroom, just like they agreed. Andrew and Bastion were pretty calm for the moment.

Jaden, on the other hand, was struggling with his with his cards, trying to figure out how to plan a strategy. "Eeny Meeny Miney Mo." He mumbled to himself. "Catch a monster by the toe. If he stinks, then let him go." He then groaned and rested his head on top of his cards.

"Are you okay, Jaden?" Andrew asked.

"No way, bro." He replied. "I don't know what cards to use in the duel."

Andrew shrugged. "Then just do what you did before. After all, you're pretty much unpredictable when you duel."

"Especially after your two matches the other day." Bastion added. "Plus, everyone is counting on us. Well, everyone except Dr. Crowler."

"Yeah yeah." Jaden muttered.

And not too soon after he said those words, the three representatives were surrounded by 7 peopled. Specifically, Alexis, Syrus, Chumley, Jenny, Shiori, Matt and Michael. Each one of them was holding a Duel Monster card.

"You know, my Dice Jar would be a good addition to one of your decks." Matt said.

"That Dice Jar is way to gambling." Alexis said. "You need something strong like Etoile Cyber."

"Airknight Parshath could be really useful." Jenny added.

"I think you guys need something badass, like my Dark Armed Dragon." Michael said.

"Nu-huh. If you really want something badass, you guys better take my Demise, King of Armageddon." Shiori offered.

"How about Des Koala?" Chumley asked.

"You can use my Powerbond if you need." Syrus suggested.

Jaden snapped and caused everyone, including Andrew and Bastion to move away from him. "What I need is some time to think!"

"Whoa! Take it easy, dude. We're just trying to help." Michael explained.

"After all, you guys have been chosen as representatives for the School Duel." Matt added. "This is huge."

"And if you guys can't give the school enough victories, it's going to be a huge disappointment." Alexis said.

"I think you guys aren't doing things easier by putting the pressure on us." Bastion pointed out.

"Yeah, what he said!" Jadne added. "I know the school is counting on us, but all we can do is our best."

"You know what, you're absolutely right." Shiori replied with a smile. "Dueling isn't about trophies, it's about being the best you can."

"Thank you, Shiori." Andrew said with a smile. But it was then turned into a frown because of what the ritual duelist said next...

"And the best needs the power of my King of Armageddon!"

"Or Powerbond!"

Andrew's left eye was twitching a little.

"Or Etoile Cyber."

"More Like Airknight Parshath."

Andrew was now holding an annoyed expression on his face. Plus he had a small tick mark on the left side on his head.

"Or rather Dice Jar."

"Definitely Dark Armed Dragon."

The tick mark on Andrew's head got bigger and he was growling a little. Something that Bastion noticed.

"Um, Andrew?" He asked.

"Des Koala, all the way…"

"ENOOOOUGH!" That was it. Andrew couldn't stop himself from letting out a yell so loudly that everyone, including Bastion and Jaden, jumped at his outburst. "You guys aren't any helpful with this nonsense!" He then gathered his stuff and stood up. "Bastion, Jaden, get your cards and duel disks and let's find a place where we can have some piece and quiet!"

Jaden and Bastion got over their shock and gathered their stuff and followed him, with the former speaking up. "I'm in."

"Good call."

While the trio walked away, the others were still in shock.

"Whoa! I've never seen Andrew so angry before." Shiori commented.

"Me neither." Matt replied.

"Remind me to not anger him again." Michael said.

Jenny shook her head and spoke up. "Come one, let's follow them." At that, they ran out of the classroom and down the hall, trying to find Andrew and the others.

"Guys, wait up!" Syrus called out.

"Why are we always running?" Chumley complained

What they didn't know was that the trio was hiding behind a pillar.

"Guys, we just want to help!" Matt called out.

When he and the others looked away, Andrew, Jaden and Bastion snuck away and ran up the stairs.

"I want to help you guys be alone!" Shiori called out.

"You can't be alone all by yourselves!" Alexis added.

"My word, they are so eager to help us that it's actually problematic." Bastion said as he and his fellow reps kept running.

"Tell me about it." Andrew replied.

"Funny, no one's ever this helpful when I'm doing my laundry." Jaden added.

Eventually, they came off the stairs and ended up on the roof.

"Well, at least we found a peaceful place." Andrew noted as he glanced around the place.

"Indeed." Bastion agreed.

"Yeah." Jaden added.

"Sup." Everyone turned their heads towards a boy who laying on the floor a few meters away. He had black hair, wearing a blue worn out, sleeveless shirt and pants, brown sandals on his feet and an Obelisk Blue blazer that was hanging loosely around his back.

"Who's that?" Andrew asked.

"I don't know. I haven't seen him before." Bastion said.

"No offense, but were hoping to find some peace and quiet up here." Jaden said. "What are you doing up here?"

"I'm up here to duel you, Jaden." The Obelisk boy replied.

"Who are you?" Andrew asked.

"Just a dude with a deck. Call me Belowski." The Obelisk responded as he relaxed on his back, staring at the clouds. "You ever notice how clouds look like Duel Monsters if you look really close?"

"Pardon?" Bastion asked.

Just then, Winged Kuriboh popped out of Jaden's deck and moved around. Phantom Magician made an appearance as well.

"Hey there, pal." Jaden greeted his duel spirit. It moved back and forward, almost like it was dancing or something. "What is it?"

"Nice Kuriboh." Belowski said sitting up. "I hear they like being scratched behind their wings."

"Wait, you can see him?" Jaden asked.

"Of course I can. And hear him too, though my kuribohese is a little rusty. I can see the skeleton dude as well."

"You don't say." Andrew replied as he glanced to his partner.

 _"Looks like that boy has a special gift, just like you and Jaden."_ Phantom Magician commented.

"What are you guys talking?" Bastion asked, obviously confused.

"Which is more than we can say about Bastion." Andrew muttered.

"Anyhow, lets duel." Belowski said as he picked up a duel disk.

"Again with the dueling?" Andrew asked.

"I know, he must think I'm easy pickings cuz I'm in red." Jaden replied.

"Red, blue, yellow, who cares?" Belowski mused. "Those are just symbols the man uses to try to propagate social division. See, it's all a conspiracy of the political industrial complex to permeate so called free market."

"Oookay." Andrew said slowly, clearly feeling a little weirded out of the Obelisk's words.

"Sure, whatevs, let's just throw down." Jaden said.

"All out." Belowski said.

"Jaden, there you are." Syrus called out as he and the others showed.

"Hey, you guys are just in time." Jaden greeted them.

"Just in time for what?" Matt asked.

"Who's that Obelisk over there?" Shiori asked.

"Yeah, I've never seen him before." Michael added.

"Well, he's gonna be my opponent." Jaden said.

"A duel?" Jenny asked.

"A duel?" Alexis repeated.

Crowler was hiding on the top of one of the pillars. "Poor Jaden. Once Belowski uses his special skills, he won't be able to compete in the School Duel. Or anywhere else ever again. Good thing I pulled my protective armor out of the closet. Otherwise, I'd end up in the stupor they're all about to be in." He cackled.

"Get your game on!"

Jaden declared as he and the Obelisk started the duel.

 **Jaden: 4000**

 **Belowski: 4000**

"Yeah man, whatever." Belowksi said as he drew a card. "Alright, first I'm gonna summon Mokey Mokey in defense modey modey!" From a puff of pink smoke, a small, white, rectangular appeared. It had short stubby arms and legs, lines for its eyes and mouth, little wings and a red halo above its head that was shaped like a question mark. (ATK: 300 **DEF: 100** LV: 1)

Everyone stared at the monster as it squealed 'Mokey Mokey' before the spectators, except for Andrew, became entranced by it.

"Goodness me, that's not a monster, it's a marshmallow!" Bastion said smiling.

"He's so cute!" Alexis squealed.

"Like a great big, fluffy pillow!" Jenny added.

"Makes me wanna take a nap." Syrus said.

Chumely yawned. "Now when you mention it, me too."

"(Yawn) Same here." Matt replied with a sleepy tone.

"Ditto." Shiori added while rubbing his eyes.

Andrew was staring at his friends. "What is this?"

 _"I have no idea."_ Phantom Magician.

"Alright, I guess I'll just toss down a couple and chill now." Belowksi said as two facedown cards appeared.

"My turn then." Jaden drew a card. "And what a turn it'll be. First I'm summoning Elemental HERO Sparkman in attack mode!" The blue and golden, electric hero rose in front of him. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1400 LV: 4) "Then I'll play the spell card Polymerization! And since Elemental heroes Avian and Burstinatrix are already in my hand, I can fuse them to create the Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!" Jaden's signature monster appeared beside Sparkman. ( **ATK: 2100** DEF: 1200 LV: 6) "Well, bud, you still wanna duel me now?"

But to Jaden and Andrew's surprise, Belowski laughed clapped. "Totally man! Those monsters look righteous!"

"Righteous? That's not the reaction I was hoping for?"

"Then how about to show him what they really can do?" Andrew suggested.

"Yeah, good idea. An attack oughta knock some sense into him. Go, Sparkman attack! Spark Shockwave!" The electric hero leapt into the air.

"Your attack will not stand man." Belowski said while revealing one of his facedown cards. "I've got a trap card. It's called Human-Wave Tactics. Wrap your mind around this: at the end of each turn, I can summon a monster from my deck that's the same level as the one that's been destroyed. They have to be level 2 or below, but it's about the balance man. The Yin and the Yang.

"Whatever that means, all I know is that my Sparkman's attack's still happening." The electric hero zapped white creature with a blast of electricity. "And with Mokey Mokey out of the way, Flame Wingman can attack you directly." The named monster jumped in the air and was covered with flames.

"Dude." Is all what Belowski said before he got kicked by the hero and was knocked down.

 **Belowski: 4000-1900**

"And now I'll call it a turn, Belowski." Jaden said, ending his turn.

"Nice one, Jaden!"Andrew said.

"Oh... that was very unchill dude." Belowski said as he sat back up. "But now I can summon Happy Lover thanks to Human-Wave Tactics." A light shined revealing around orange ball with a face, a heart on its forehead and two pairs of pink wings. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 500 LV: 2) Belowski then drew a new card. "And since Happy Lover likes to share the love, I'll bring back his bud Mokey Mokey in attack modey modey." A second white rectangular figure appeared. ( **ATK: 300** DEF: 100 LV: 1)

"Mokey Mokey." It said.

More contented sighs spread through the audience due to the appearance of the second Mokey Mokey.

"He has such a calming presence." Bastion mused.

"Mokey Mokey makes everything so chill." Michael added.

Syrus smiled. "I fell fuzzy and warm."

Chumley, Matt and Shiori yawned at the same time.

"I just wanna hug the cute little thing!" Jenny squealed, making Andrew shocked at her reaction.

"That's just the beginning man. Next I play Mokey Mokey Smackdown." A spell card appeared the white cube-like monster. "Then I think I'll attack your Sparkman with my Happy Lover."

"What for? Sparkman's got way higher voltage than your lover." Jaden reminded Belowski.

"I know, but it's all good. Go, Gushy Burst!" The winged ball flew up and fired a blast of pink energy at Sparkman, who easily smacked it back where it came from, blasting its originator to pieces.

 **Belowski: 1900-1100**

At seeing his friend destroyed, Mokey Mokey's eyes bugged out before it became furious. Its body puffed out, turned a dark pink color, the question mark above its head turned into an exclamation mark, its wings expanded and it trembled with rage.

"Whoa! What happened to Mokey Mokey?" Andrew wondered.

"Oh wow!" Alexis exclaimed. "Look at Mokey Mokey go!"

"I could just watch him for days!" Bastion added.

"Yeah, he's the best!" Jenny agreed.

"He sure is." Belowski said. "Cuz since your Sparkman just destroyed a fairy type monster, my Mokey Mokey Smackdown spell card activates. And that raises Mokey Mokey's attack points to 3000. Far out, huh? Power to the Mokey Mokey."

"No way!" Jaden said.

"Brilliant move!" Bastion complimented.

"That Mokey Mokey is just something else!" Jenny added.

"Way cool man!" Michael said.

"Still warm and fuzzy." Syrus said.

 _'Jaden is in big trouble_ now.' Andrew thought worriedly.

Mokey Mokey was engulfed in a bright light while it was crying out its name. ( **ATK: 300-3000** )

"You go Mokey Mokey!" Alexis, Jenny, Michael and Syrus cheered.

"Yes, and we're going right there with you!" Bastion added as he and the others clapped together.

"Oh come on!" Jaden turned to his entranced friends. "Just who are you rooting for!?"

"You have to ask? Mokey Mokey." Michael answered, as if it was the most obvious thing on the world.

Jaden and Andrew did an anime style fall in shock.

"Now, where was I?" Belowski asked. "Oh yeah, I was about to have my Mokey Mokey attack your Flame Wingman."

"Huh?" Jaden turned back to his opponent upon hearing those words and couldn't help but scream in panic.

"Don't worry, the Mokey Mokey Wave is full of good vibrations. Well, not good for your Wingman though." The pink creature flapped his wings and sent vibrations from its body towards the hero, who instantly exploded.

 **Jaden: 4000-3100**

"Mokey Mokey!" The others cheered as they were sitting down. "Mokey Mokey!"

"What's with you guys!" Jaden asked angrily.

"That's what I want to know as well!" Andrew said, also angry.

"They're feeling the moke." Belowski replied.

"Moke?" Andrew asked.

"The moke's all about harmony man. And there's more where that came from. I'm playing Mystic Wok." Another spell card appeared. "And like a sizzling plate of kung pow tofu, Mystic Wok refills my energy. But balance, dude. I only get life points equal to the monster's attack points I sacrifice. So I'll sacrifice Mokey Mokey." The named monster disappeared. "So that's three grand in points.

 **Belowski: 1100-4100**

"And cuz Happy Lover is gone, Human-Wave Tactics restores the balance of my universe. I just gotta choose which balance. I'm thinking Haniwa is my type of Zen."

"Haniwa?" Jaden asked.

"Yeah." A small brown, egg-like creature with holes for eyes and a mouth, as well a pair of arms and stubby feet sticking out from underneath appeared. (ATK: 500 **DEF: 500** LV: 2)

"What next?" Andrew wondered.

"Hey dudes!" Bastion called out, making him and Jaden turn to the others. While Chumley, Shiori and Matt were laying on the floor sleeping, the rest of their friends were sitting indian-style on the floor. Bastion tilted his head. "You gotta chill out man."

"What?" Jaden asked.

"Yeah, get in the groove." Michael added.

"You dudes are surrounded by this negative energy." Jenny added. "You can't bring that to the duel."

"Excuse me?" Andrew asked in shock.

"Sing our mantra man." Syrus chimed in.

"Mantra!" Both hero duelist exclaimed.

"Mokey Mokey!" The group cried in union.

Jaden and Andrew groaned in annoyance.

Crowler was laughing at this. "I love it when a plan comes together. They're all under his spell, and soon Jaden will be as well."

"Wake up!" Jaden and Andrew screamed.

They then turned and glared at Belowski. "What did you do to our friends!" The former demanded.

Belowski laughed. "Freed their minds, man."

"Mokey Mokey!"

"Okie dokie, Mokey Mokey."

"What in the world of Duel Monsters is going on here!?" Andrew shouted.

As if to give him an answer, Crowler jumped off the pillar he'd been lying on, using the suit's jet function. "Jaden, Andrew." He called out as he descended. "I see you've met one of my favorite students, Belowski." He put is hands on the boy's shoulders. "I just love him… well, when I'm safe from his powers."

"Uh, his what?" Jaden asked.

"His powers. You see, Belowski is a very special was left on the academy's doorstep as a baby, and quickly became a master duelist. As a mere child, he rose through the ranks of the academy. It was then strange things began to occur."

"Oh, you mean the way he talks?" Jaden asked. "Big whoop."

"No. I mean how Mokey mokey comes alive when he duels with him."

"Comes alive?" Andrew asked.

"Powers and all. Powers that lull everyone around him into a lazy daze. Like your friends, and soon, like you."

"No wonder." Jaden said.

"Mokey Mokey!"

"Enough of this, Crowler!" Andrew shouted. "Beating Jaden is one thing, but taking it out on the rest of us is just too far! Are you trying to beat all of us!?"

If Crowler wasn't wearing his eyewear, everyone would have noticed him blink before he realized something. "AAHH!" He screamed. "I forgot that Bastion was one of the representatives! This plan was meant to take care of Jaden!"

"So much for your big plan." Jaden commented.

Everyone was so focused on Crowler's outburst, that no one noticed Jenny's eyes stirring a little before they opened. She was now awake, but not fully awake. She didn't even notice the spirit of Tethys who appeared behind her.

Crowler then calmed down. "Okay, deep breaths. I just have to take him out of here, once this duel is over."

Belowski shrugged casually. "It's cool, man. It's not like they're in any kind of danger or anything. Mokey Mokey just makes them feel nice and cozy."

"Indeed." Crowler nodded. "It once made _all_ the school's students feel that way, and that is why we had to move Belowski and build him a new home, a titanium encased holographic chamber deep underground.

Andrew widened his eyes, not believeing what he just heard. He then glared at Crowler. "So you're saying you built him a jail?"

"Jail's such an ugly word. We prefer mandatory restraint habitat. It was actually quite nice inside. Like an island paradise."

"Sure it was." Jaden snapped. "And just like an island, he was completely stranded there, huh?!"

"Nah man, it's all good." Belowski assured him. "I just chill, and then every time there's a student Dr. C. wants me to take care of, I get to come out. You know, duel, whatever. That's a pretty sweet gig."

"That's right." Crowler said.

"Plus, I get plenty of time to hang with my monster crew and spin our wheels and stuff. And dude, we have some deep talks too, we're totally unravelling the universe. You should join us."

Jaden glanced to the side, hearing a hoot from Winged Kuriboh, and looked back to Belowski and Crowler. "No thanks, we're good here."

"Same here." Andrew added.

 _"Yeah."_ Phantom Magician agreed.

"Dueling is our thing. So how about we get back to it." Jaden suggested.

"Hey, that's chill."

"Alright!" Jaden drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Wildheart!" The muscle-bound tribal hero appeared next to Sparkman. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1600 LV: 4) "And now, go! Attack!" With a battle-cry, Wildheart leapt in air, and then descended on the egg-like monster before slashing it with his sword. "Next up, Sparkman! Light up his world!"

As soon as the electric hero fired a blast of electricity, Crowler screamed and ran away just before Belowski was struck by the attack and fell down.

 **Belowski: 4100-2500**

"Then I'll throw down a facedown and end it a turn. _Dude._ " Jaden concluded, placing a card into his duel disk.

Belowski rose to his feet. "You know, you're a real party pooper, man. Good thing I got Human-Wave Tactics so I can summon a new Happy Lover." Another orange ball with wings appeared. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 500 LV: 2)

"Belowski, shouldn't he be nodding off by now!?" He frantically pointed at Jaden. "Mokey Mokey's supposed to drain Jaden! But no! Just look, he's fine! Just check out on his friends! Why isn't Jaden like that!?" He asked, pointing at Jaden and Andrew's entranced friends who had fallen asleep. Of course, he didn't notice that Jenny was barely awake.

"That's what I'm wondering as well." Andrew said. And then a thought crossed his mind. _'Come to think of it, I don't feel affected either. I wonder why._ _'_

Belowski looked at Jaden before he spoke up. "Search me, dude."

"That's your answer?" Crowler asked as a bunch of question marks appeared above his head.

"It's cool." Belowski drew a card. "Watch, I'm gonna use my Pot of Greed. It lets me draw two more cards." After drawing his two cards, he smiled. "Far out! I got Dark factory of Mass Production.! It may sounds totalitarian, but it lets me bring back two monsters to my hand. And I'll pick two Mokey Mokey's since I'm already holding the third." At that, all three of them appeared before being surrounded by swirling smoke that resembled a fusion vortex. And then, an explosion occurred. "That way, I can fuse them all together and bring out _this_ little friend."

Andrew and Jaden watched as a shadow covered the roof. The monster that appeared was a Mokey Mokey. However, this one was huge. So huge in fact, that it was practically the size of the Academy building. ( **ATK: 300** DEF: 100 LV: 6) "Mokey Mokey." It said with a deep voice.

"Little friend!?" Jaden said.

"That thing is gigantic!" Andrew exclaimed.

"You said it, man. He's Mokey Mokey King! Now check out his King Wave!" The huge monster sent out vibrations, just like the original, and focused the attack on Wildheart.

"Wildheart, use your Wild Slash on that thing!" The tribal hero jumped high and cut the giant monster right between the eyes. It had a look of surprise and pain before it exploded.

 **Belowski: 2500-1300**

But then, from the explosion, three globs appeared. When they landed on the field, they turned out be the three Mokey Mokey originals. ( **ATK: 300** DEF: 100 LV: 1) x3 "That was so totally awesome, man!" Belowski praised. "But the circle of life must go on. From one comes many, dude. And the king's special effect brings back all three Mokeys."

"All three at once?" Andrew asked.

"that's just great." Jaden said sarcastically.

The three white monsters combined their sound waves and the area was soon filled with a high-pitched frequency that was strong enough to crack the helmet of Crowler's suit, exposing the Obelisk Headmaster to the sound waves and power of Mokey Mokey. As a result, he was knocked out, just Bastion and the others.

"Alright man, and now, Happy Lover, attack Wildheart! Gushy Burst." The winged ball shot a blast of pink energy. And just like Sparkman, Wildheart was able to smack it back and destroy the fairy type monster.

 **Belowski: 1300-0600**

And of course Happy Lover's destruction cause all three of the Mokey Mokeys to puff up angrily and turn pink. "Aww man, look what you did to my little Mokey Mokeys. Good thing my Smackdown card's still in effect, huh? Cuz now they all got 3000 attack points. ( **ATK: 300-3000** ) x3

"Great, now there are three monsters with 3000 attack points." Andrew groaned.

"This is not sweet." Jaden muttered.

"Mokey Mokey one, go get that Wildheart." One of the Mokeys sent out vibrations. "Mokey Mokey dos, you're on the Sparkman." The second one followed suit.

The sound waves spread to the other side of the field. Wildheart was the first victim to shatter into pixels.

 **Jaden: 3100-1600**

"That's enough! Go, Hero barrier!" Jaden's facedown card flipped and a glowing barrier came between Sparkman and the sound waves. "As long as I have at least one Elemental HERO on the field, this trap card lets me cancel one of your Mokey Mokey attacks this turn."

"Nice move, man. But I got one more Mokey." And that one sent out vibrations, just the like the others and destroyed the electric hero with the sound waves.

 **Jaden: 1600-0200**

"And now, cuz of Human-Wave Tactics, I'm allowed to bring another Happy Lover for another go around." A third orange ball with wings appeared. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 500 LV: 2) After that, Belowski's facedown card flipped up. "Plus, I'll play this way cool trap card. It's called Gift of the Mystical Elf. Of course it's not wrapped. Still, it's like totally full of good karma. I get 300 life points for each monster out." ( **ATK: 3000-300** ) x3

 **Belowski: 0600-1800**

"Well, gotta give him credit. That Belowski is pretty good. Sending his fairy type monsters into battle to give Mokey Mokey a power boost, replacing his destroyed monsters with new ones by using Human-Wave Tactics, and using life point gaining cards to keep himself in the game." Andrew noted as he couldn't help but be impressed by by Belowski's strategies. "He certainly is a good duelist."

 _"Indeed."_ Phantom Magician agreed. _"If it wasn't for his unusual powers, he could have earned some respect from other students."_

"Ugh…" Jaden lowered his head as the move was done.

"You're not looking too hot." Belowski noted. "Do you want take a burrito break or something?"

"Maybe later." Jaden replied, confusing the Obelisk boy. "Right now, I'm summoning Elemental HERO Bubbleman!" The caped and water equipped hero appeared. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 1200 LV: 4)

"Aw man, I gotta say, I'm impressed. How do you keep dueling after all we put you through?" To emphasize his confusion, Belowski's monsters seemed a little confused as well.

"Cuz I don't give up!" Jaden said smiling. "Especially in a duel this much fun! I'm gonna be fighting until the end!"

Andrew nodded with a smile. "You tell him."

"Especially now when Bubbleman's out, cuz if he's the only one on my field when summoned, I'm allowed to draw two more cards from my deck." Jaden paused and drew his extra cards. "And I'm gonna activate one of them, Hero Heart! It lets Bubbleman attack twice, as long as I cut his attack points in half." ( **ATK: 800-400** ) "Now let's get to it. Bubbleman, attack Mokey Mokey! Bubble Blast!"

"Oh, not cool." Belowski commented.

The water hero shot a blast of water from the pipe attached to his arm. It struck one of the white creatures, destroyed it and angered the other two.

 **Belowski: 1800-1700**

"You did it now. Smackdown activates and gives them 3000 attack points each." ( **ATK: 300-3000** ) x2

"That sounds like my kind of fight! Bubbleman, attack Mokey Mokey again!"

"Say what!?" Andrew exclaimed in surprise.

The water hero fired another off another blast of water at one of the angry monsters. At the same time, Jaden inserted a card into his duel disk. "And now I'll activate Bubble Illusion! See, when Bubbleman's on the field, and I play this, I can get to activate a trap card that's in my hand. And what better trap card than Mirror Gate?" Held up the named card.

"Mirror Gate?" Andrew repeated before he smiled. "No way!"

"Now all of our monsters switch sides. What's yours is mine, and what's mine is yours."

Belowski, for the first time since the duel, was now surprised as the battling monsters went to opposite sides of the field. The water blast hit Mokey Mokey, making a little more angry.

"Alright! Give him a taste of his own Mokey!" The angry monster sent out vibrations.

"This is... a bummer man." Belowski said before the sound waves destroyed Bubbleman and caused him to fall back lose the rest of his life points.

 **Belowski: 1700-0000**

Jaden approached him and gave him his trade mark finger salute. "That's game. And what a game! I actually thought you had me a few times."

"No kidding." Andrew added as he walked up to them. "Nicely played, Jaden."

Belowski laughed a little. "Yeah, but I don't get it. Why didn't you trance out?"

"Why would I?" Jaden asked. "When I sleep, I dream of dueling!" He then laughed.

"Oh, I think I get it." Belowski said. "You love dueling so much, the more Mokey Mokey tried to zonk you out, the more revved up you got."

"Yeah."

"Good to know. For next time…" The Obelisk yawned. "But for now... I need a nice long nap. Later…" He then tipped off and fell asleep.

"Hey!" Jaden exclaimed. "Is anyone awake!? Hello!"

"Only you and me." Andrew replied.

"That's not true." A sleepy voice spoke up. The boys turned around to see Jenny who just got up while rubbing her eyes.

"Jenny, when did you wake up?" Andrew asked.

"Just in time to hear Crowler's plan to try to keep Jaden from participating the School Duel." The fairy duelist replied before yawning. "Although, it wasn't easy for me to stay awake because of Belowski's powers."

"But the others are still asleep, so how did you manage to wake up?" Jaden asked.

"I don't know."

Andrew on the other hand noticed Tethys hovering above her who gave him a nod before disappearing. He then smiled. "Well, whatever the case, we better get the others back to the dorms."

"Good idea." Jaden said as he carried Syrus. Andrew took care of Shiori and Jenny carried Alexis. "Guess we have to come back for the others later, huh?"

"Yeah." Jenny said.

"I'll tell you, that was the strangest duel I've been in."

"At least you had a little practice for the School Duel." Andrew said.

"That's true. And after surviving that, I'm definitely ready for North Academy's best!"

* * *

 **And that's that. Until next time.**


	31. Chapter 31

**The New Chazz**

Normally, unusual things would occur at Duel Academy. But what's unusual this time, was something that took place in the middle of the ocean at a foggy night. And the person involved was none other than the former Obelisk Blue student, Chazz Princeton. He was sitting at the tip of the yacht with its rear sunk down a little. He also had his duel disk between his legs. While sitting there stranded, he cursed his predicament.

"Lousy scrubs. It's all their fault. Dr. Crowler, Bastion, Andrew… Jaden!"

At that, a hallucination of the Slifer boy in question appeared, smiling like the real Jaden. _"Hey Chazz! Come on, let's go! Get your game on!"_

"Quiet!" Chazz snapped. "I'm gonna wipe that ugly grin right off your face."

The imaginary Jaden waved idly at him. _"Hey, take your best shot."_

"If only I could." Chazz picked up his duel disk, put it on his arm and activated it. "Just one more duel. That's all I want."

 _"Really? That's all you want?"_ The imaginary Jaden asked, annoying the former Duel Academy student further. _"I'd want not to be stranded."_ With that said, he drank some water from a bottle he was holding.

Chazz swung his arm with his duel disk at the image. The duel disk then beeped a little before losing power. And then, he started to laugh a laughter that could have been perceived as a little insane. "Stranded? I'm not stranded, I'm perfectly fine!" He picked up a water bottle and placed it to his mouth, but only a drop came out. "A little thirsty maybe…"

The imaginary Jaden appeared again. _"You know what I'm thirsty for? Another duel where I beat you!"_ That comment made Chazz really annoyed. _"_ _I'm downright parched for it!"_

"Duel this!" Chazz tossed the bottle at the image, but then watched in horror. "Oh no!" He then tried to reach out for it, but ended up falling into the ocean. As he sank further, he was still thinking about Jaden in anger. _'I'll get you for this, Slacker! I'll get you…!_ Then, it all went completely black.

* * *

 _"Hey! Hey boss!"_ A strange voice called to Chazz, who was laying on the floor unconscious. The voice belonged to a glowing orb that floated around him, weaving from left to right. _"Rise and shine! Up and at them! Hellooo!_ The orb then floated close to his face. _"Come on, wake up! Alright, guess I have to do my wake up dance."_ But it was at that moment Chazz grabbed the orb and squeezed it until it popped into nothingness.

Opening his eyes, Chazz noticed that he was no longer in the water. Instead he was in some rounded metal cylindrical structure. There was water on the floor and seaweed hung from the ceiling.

"Good morning, young duelist." A man's voice greeted.

Chazz turned and noticed the figure who had spoken. The individual was sitting down opposite him, wearing a heavy red coat and white gloves. A orange scarf covered the lower part of his face while huge goggles covered the the top half. And on top of that, the stranger was nearly covered in seaweed. "What's going on?" Chazz asked. "Or better yet, what are _you_?"

The stranger chuckled while looking at a deck of cards in his hands. "I'm the person that saved your life. And for now, that's all you need to know."

Taking note of the cards in the stranger's hands, Chazz realized that the deck slot of his duel disk was empty. "Hey, wait a sec! Those are my cards! Hand them over!" He demanded, holding out his hand.

"Oh, certainly. How very rude of me. Here you are." But instead of giving them back to Chazz, the mysterious man dropped them into the water at his feet. "Whoopsie."

"You jerk…!" Chazz snapped at him, but then stopped himself as he barely caught a card that the man tossed to him.

"Relax. That card more than makes up for it."

"Yeah, well it better." Chazz glanced at the card and wasn't really happy to see what he got. It was a normal level 2 monster with 0 attack points and 1000 defense points. The card had the image of a small yellow creature with flimsy arms and legs, and eye stalks. Slobber dripped from its wide mouth and it wore a red bikini bottom. "What? Some no name? This stinks!" Chazz raised his arm, prepared to toss the card away.

"Stop!" the stranger cried. "That is the card that will change your life."

"Ah, give me a break." Chazz said disbelievingly.

"I'll give you something far better. Another chance to beat Jaden."

"How do you know about him? Tell me!" Chazz demanded. At the same time, the imaginary Jaden appeared again.

"You talk in your sleep. And from what you said, it sounds like this Jaden beat you badly in a duel."

Chazz scoffed and looked away. "He was just lucky, that's all."

"Lucky? Do you often run away from just luck?"

 _"He's got you there, Chazz!"_ The imaginary Jaden said. _"You may be wearing blue, but you turn yellow fast!"_

"That's it! No one calls Chazz Princeton a coward!"

"Talk is cheap, young duelist."

"That may be, but I'm rich." Chazz rose to his feet. "And I'll spend whatever it takes to be the best out there."

Once again, the stranger chuckled. "That's just your problem. No amount of money can buy you that. You must earn it... if you can. And that is precisely what we're going to find out. Good luck, young duelist." It was at that moment the room began to flood with water. The stranger waded through the rising water level. "Remember to hold your nose…"

The room soon filled completely with water, and before Chazz knew it, he was ejected from a sub, propelled through the water, breached through the surface and flew into the air screaming before landing on an ice bank.

"Crazy kook." He said, wincing a little. "My attorney will be in touch with you." He then took note of his surroundings. He was on a plain of ice. The terrain around was rough, with mountains in the background and uneven ends all around. But what he most noticeable thing of the surroundings was a large building in the distance, just at the edge of an icy path. "Oh well, at least I'm back in civilization… well, kind of. This place is low rent. No problem, one call and I'm outta here." He started to walk towards the building. "Only question is, should I have them send the plane, or the chopper?"

* * *

After a while, Chazz arrived at the building he'd seen from afar. "Not a bad spread. Of course, my pad is bigger." He went to the wooden double doors and knocked on them. "Open up! Let's go! Is there anybody home? Hello!"

"Oh they're home." A voice spoke up. Chazz looked to his left and saw a bald man sitting sitting on the ground in front of a fire. He had tufts of brown hair in the back of his head and a thin layer of stubble on his face. He was wearing glasses, a worn brown coat and black pants, and a pair of sturdy boots. "But you'll need 40 cards for them to let you in. I'm afraid that's just the way it works here at North Academy."

Chazz frowned at the man's words. "North Academy? So this is the school that's Duel Academy's arch-rival then." He then approached the man who nodded.

"That's right. Here, take a seat with me, friend. I could use some company." Chazz sat down next him. "After all, I've been here for a long while. How it works is there's cards hidden all around. In glacial crevices, on ice cliffs… It's kind of a test. Find 40, and they'll let you in."

Speaking of cards, Chazz noticed the duel disk strapped on the man's left arm and saw the cards it had. "So how many do you have?"

"Well I've actually managed to find 39 cards, but it took every last bit of energy I had to do so. I'm too worn out to look for the 40th."

"Great, then you don't need the other 39. Here, I'll buy them off you." Chazz reached into his blazer and pulled out a money card. "Go on, take it."

The man seemed to be tempted by the money card Chazz held out, but quickly backed away. "No! Besides this fire and tattered coat, these are all I have. They're priceless."

Realizing that the man won't give up his cards, Chazz stood up. "Fine, I'll find my own." he then walked away.

"Good luck then, young duelist. In this barren wasteland, you'll need it."

* * *

And so, Chazz searched the icy wastelands, looking for forty cards. And saying that task was tough would be an understatement. He climbed icy walls, trekked across windy plains, heck, he even swam in ice cold water.

As he climbed up a rough surface, he thought for himself. _'I can't believe I have to fetch 40 cards just to get North Academy to open their stinkin doors for me. Talk about a school that's hard to get into.'_

He went on like this for a long time. In fact, it took him so long, that he didn't return to the academy building until next morning. When he arrived, he saw the man who was still sitting at his fire. "I see you've been busy doing nothing." He commented.

The bald man stood up upon seeing Chazz. "You're back! Did you find them? Did you find 40 cards?"

"Of course." Chazz replied while holding up his duel disk, showing him the cards in the deck slot.

"Well, congrats then. Guess you'll be moving on to better things." He lowered his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "But don't worry about me, I'll be quite alright. Well, until the winter gets here anyway."

"The winter?" Chazz repeated.

"Oh yes, these are summer months right now. Quite pleasant actually. And the fall's nice too, only about 30 below."

"Uh…" Chazz stared at him.

"After that, it tends to get a little bit nippy."

"Uh huh."

"But listen to me," The man said, realizing he was rabbling. "I'm sure you want to get on your way."

"Ahh, quit your whining already, would you baldy?" Chazz said, surprising the man. He then smiled. "I lied to you. I didn't find just 40 cards, I found 41. An extra one so you can come in to."

"You mean, I get to enter? Really?"

"Yeah, yeah. Get over it. Now take your stinking card. Don't make a big deal about it, okay?" Chazz took out the card he got from the man he met in the submarine. But when he tried to give it away, his arm moved away from the bald man, like it had a mind of its own.

"You're gonna give it to me or not?" The man asked confused.

"My hand, I can't let go." Chazz grabbed his wrist, trying to get control of the hand holding the card. And then, with a poof of smoke, the spirit of said card appeared.

 _"You can't give me away."_ The yellow spirit said. _"We're pals, chums, best friends forever. You know, BFF."_

"Huh? We are not!" Chazz shot back.

"What's going on?" The man asked, even more confused.

"Don't you see it?" Chazz asked.

"See what?"

The spirit giggled and floated to Chazz, shaking his bikini clad butt right in front of his face. _"Aww, Boss, you're the only one that can see me."_

"Go away!"

 _"Look, if we're gonna be partners, you need to stop being so uptight."_

"You're not real, get lost!" Chazz swatted the monster.

It appeared behind. _"Get lost? Funny you should say that. You know, I have two brothers who are lost. We really_ _ought to find them for our deck."_

"Quiet." Chazz hissed as he put the card back into his deck, making the spirit disappear. Realizing the bald man was staring at him, he said "You know, never mind, that was a wrong card." He then pulled out another card at random. "Here, take this."

The man accepted it. "Sure, whatever you say. I really appreciate it, Mr…"

"The name's Chazz Princeton. And don't you forget it." But after only a second he said that. "Actually, on second thought, do forget it. I'd rather not have people associate me with you." He walked to the fire and sat down, arms behind his head. "Now go ahead and get inside. The Chazz likes to make his own entrance."

The bald man smiled. "Oh yes, certainly, Well, thanks again." He then walked inside the building.

"Thanks for nothing." Chazz said.. "I really only found 40 cards. Now I'm one short."

The imaginary Jaden appeared again. _"Hahaha…! I always knew you were a nice guy!"_

"Shut it!" Chazz said angrily and punched at the vision. But then, he looked down and noticed a spell card on the ground named Chaos End.

 _"And when you do something nice, nice things happen."_

* * *

After adding the newfound card to his deck, Chazz sat at the fire for a while until he decided it was time to get inside. He stood in front of the double doors and held up his duel disk. "Alright, open the door, I got your 40 cards right here!" A few strands of light were then shot down from the doorframe's ceiling. They hit Chazz's duel disk which then turned on, now being recharged. After that, the double doors opened inwards, allowing him into a place that looked like an old town in the far west. The doors closed behind him.

"This is it? North Academy? What a dump." He commented as he looked from side to side. As he wandered around, he heard the sound of glass breaking, and then turned to see someone being tossed out of one of the shacks off to the side. Chazz approached that person and saw that it was the man who'd gone in before him.

"Hey, baldy, you ok?"

"What happened?" The man moaned.

"You got the North Academy welcome is what happened." Chazz looked up and saw a bunch of rough-looking boys in coats, wearing duel disks. He then noticed a person sitting in a rocking chair and assumed he was the leader. He was a built young man in an orange and black vest. He had a cold look in his eyes, matching short hair and goatee that gave him an intimidating look. "And now it's your turn." He spoke with a Russian accent. "Think you're up to the challenge, new guy? Do ya?"

Chazz scowled. "Who are you?"

"I'm the guy who runs things around here. They call me the Czar. Your friend just went through our little hazing ritual. The 50 man Duel Gauntlet."

"50 man what's it?"

" _Duel Gauntlet._ " Czar repeated. "It's how we rank students round here. Why don't you go ahead and tell him how it works, Kyle?" He asked a nearby student, a smaller black-haired kid, with a long front bang sticking out.

"See, you gotta duel 50 students."

"Yeah, you start with the lowest ranked and work your way up." Another guy spoke up. He had flat brown hair, a thin moustache and lighter blue jacket. His name is Bob.

"When you lose, that's your rank." This one had long brown hair, glasses and a white blazer. His name is Jack.

The next guy who spoke up wore a brown coat, had spiky greenish hair and a serious expression. His name is Rick. "Unless you don't lose…"

"Then, you duel me, number 50." Czar filled in.

"But everybody loses." Another guy said. "Like your friend here. He lost the very first match he had."

"Guess who's on latrine duty now." Another student said.

Even though the challenge sounded tough, Chazz just smirked. "So I have to win fifty times? And that's it?"

"Easier said than done, rookie!" One of the students countered.

"The name is Chazz! Chazz Princeton!" The former Duel Academy student shot back. "And soon, your Czar will fall and then, the Princeton will rise!"

* * *

Some time passed after Chazz's encounter with the North Academy students, and right now, he was dueling one of them, while all the others forming a circle around them to watch. As for the duel that went so far… well, Chazz was about end it with a bang...

"Go, Limiter Removal!" Chazz said, as he used the named spell card to double the attack strength of the monster he controlled. It was a metal blue crab-like machine with six legs and two big pincers with a 'KA-2' logo on them. This monster was known as KA-2 Des Scissors ( **ATK: 1000-2000** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "Now, Des Scissors, attack with Toxic Haze!" The robotic crab fired a stream of foam from its mouth at the North Academy student. When he was hit, an explosion occurred.

 **North Academy Student: 2000-0000**

"Alirght, my turn!" Another student said, getting his attention.

While this was happening, two other students were watching a couple of meters away from the gathered people. One of them was a boy, and the other was a girl.

The boy was quite slim and had messy light-brown hair and dark-brown eyes. He was wearing a gray sweater, a pair of overalls, blue sneakers and a pair of mechanic goggles strapped around his forehead.

The girl had scarlet red hair in a pixie cut, green eyes, a beauty mark under the right eye and a body shape that made her as attractive as Alexis and Jenny. She was wearing a white t-shirt, a slightly tattered red jacket with a black trim, a pair of ripped jeans and black and white sneakers.

"Looks like a new student has arrived." The boy noted.

"Yeah." The girl replied. "And he seems to be going through the 50 man duel gauntlet."

"A very tough challenge." The boy then shook his head. "But as much as I like duels, watching so many duels against North Academy can be boring sometimes."

The red-head sighed. "Tell me about it." She then turned to her fellow student and smiled. "So then, how about we do something to pass the time?"

The boy looked at her curiously. "What do you have in mind?"

"I thought you and I could duel. After all, we need to prepare for a certain big event."

That made the boy smile and nod. "Yeah, that's true. Alright then, I'm in."

At that, they walked away from the crowd to an open area where they could duel peacefully. Both of took their positions,facing each other and prepared their duel disks. The one the red-haired had was the same model as the ones that Duel Academy had. The one the boy had on the other hand, had an interesting look. Instead of the white color, like the girl's duel disk, his duel disk had the color of copper. It also had four pipes sticking out. Two on each side around the blue orb-like part. It was also a small gear sticking out at the front.

"Alright, Xander. Are your ready?"

The boy now named Xander nodded. "Ready when you are, Clover."

The girl now named Clover smirked. "Well then…"

They activated their duel disks, with the gear on Xander's duel disk spinning.

"DUEL!"

 **Clover: 4000**

 **Xander: 4000**

"I'll start." Clover drew her sixth card. "First I summon Obnoxious Celtic Guardian in attack mode!" An elven warrior with blonde hair appeared. He clad in green armor with a matching helmet, a pair of yellowish brown pants and a purple cape. He was holding a sword with his right hand. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Then I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." A card appeared behind her monster.

"Alright then." Xander drew a card. "I summon Green Gadget in attack mode." The monster that appeared was a green robot with its center part being a single gear. It also had gears on its shoulders. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 800 LV: 4) "When this monster is summoned, I can add Red Gadget from my deck to my hand." Xander took the named card from his deck and revealed it before he placed it in his hand. "And now I activate the spell card Machine Assembly Line." The spell card appeared behind the robot. "This card gives any machine type monster on my field 200 extra attack points." ( **ATK: 1400-1600** ) "Green Gadget, attack her Celtic Guardian!" The robot leapt toward the elven warrior.

"Don't think so, Xander!" Clover's facedown card flipped up. "I activate Sakuretsu Armor! This trap card destroys your attacking monster!" The trap card glowed and the robot stopped right in front of the elven warrior before it exploded.

"Not bad, but you triggered the second effect of my Machine Assembly Line. The moment when at least one of my machine type monsters is destroyed, it gets two Junk Counters." The spell card in question glowed. ( **Junk Counter: 2** ) "I place two cards facedown and end my turn." Xander concluded as two cards appeared on his field.

"I draw!" Clover began her next turn. "First I'll equip the spell card Lightning Blade to my Celtic Guardian!" The sword in the elven warrior's hand was transformed. Its blade became broader, its handle became golden and then, the sword itself was sizzling with electricity. "Thanks to this card, my monster gains 800 attack points." ( **ATK: 1400-2200** ) "Celtic Guardian, attack! Lightning Blade Strike!" The warrior jumped up in the air and raised his sword.

"I activate my trap!" Xander interrupted while revealing one of his facedown cards. "Ultimate Offering! By paying 500 life points, I can normal or set extra monsters during my main phase, or your battle phase. So I'll give up 500 points to bring out a monster in defense mode!" A facedown card appeared in front of his trap card.

 **Xander: 4000-3500**

The elven warrior cut the card in half and revealed a twin-barreled laser in the form of a mechanical platform. (ATK: 500 **DEF: 500** LV: 3) But the moment it appeared, it exploded. Xander's continuous spell card glowed. ( **Junk Counter: 2-4** )

"I place one card facedown and end my turn." Clover concluded while inserting a card into her duel disk.

"My turn." Xander drew. "And I summon Red Gadget in attack mode!" A robot that looked similar to Green Gadget appeared. But like the name suggested, this robot was red and had a gadget attached to its back. ( **ATK: 1300** DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "And this monster has an ability similar to Green Gadget." Xander explained while taking a card from his deck. "However, the monster I get from my deck with Red Gadget's help is Yellow Gadget, and I think I'll use Ultimate Offering's effect in order to summon it to the field."

 **Xander: 3500-3000**

A yellow robot appeared next to the red one, this one with a gear on its back and one in its body. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1200 4) "And thanks to this monster, I can add another Gadget monster from my deck to my hand. Specifically, another Green Gadget." He revealed the named card after taking it out from his deck. "Now let's give him a welcome." The green, gadget-like robot appeared. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 800 LV: 4)

 **Xander: 3000-2500**

"And once again, I'll add a Red Gadget from my deck to my hand." Xander took another card from his deck.

"3 monster's in one turn." Clover mused before smiling. "That's impressive."

"Thanks. And don't forget, Machine Assembly Line gives my mechanical friends a power boost." ( **ATK: 1400-1600** ) ( **ATK: 1300-1500** ) ( **ATK: 1200-1400** ) "And next I activate the spell card, Enemy Controller." The spell card appeared on the field and brought out a game controller with its cable attaching itself to Obnoxious Celtic Guardian. "I get to use one of this card's two effects, and I choose the first one, allowing me to change your monster's battle mode." The controller's buttons were pressed in following order: B, up, right, A, right, down. And that forced the elven warrior to kneel down. "Now it's time for battle! Yellow Gadget, attack!" The yellow robot dashed forward.

"I activate the trap card Negate Attack!" Clover's facedown card flipped up and created a red barrier that stopped a punch from Yellow Gadget. "This trap card stops your attack and ends your battle phase."

Xander shrugged. "Oh well, guess I'll try again next time. But for now, I'll end my turn with a facedown." He concluded as a card appeared on his field.

"I doubt you'll have another chance." Clover drew a card. "I'll switch Celtic Guardian back to attack mode." The elven warrior stood up. "Now my Guardian, attack his Green Gadget!" The elven warrior leapt toward the green robot, preparing to strike it with his sword.

"Stop right there!" Xander interrupted. "I activate my trap card!" One of his facedown cards flipped up. "Pulse Mines! Since I have a machine type monster on the field, this trap card forces your monster to go from attack mode to defense mode." The Celtic Guardian was stopped by an electromagnetic pulse that was unleashed from the trap card. He winced and fell to one knee.

Clover clicked her tongue. "I place one card facedown and summon Warrior Lady of the Wasteland in defense mode." A facedown card appeared, along with a woman who kneeled down next to the elven warrior. She had long blonde hair and green eyes. She was wearing a brown hat and tattered cape over a green halter top, skirt and boots. (ATK: 1100 **DEF: 1200** LV: 4) "I end my turn."

"My move." Xander drew. "And I summon Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo." Brown robot appeared on the field. It had a large gap in its body and a smaller gear-shaped gap inside it. The robot's face made it look similar to the Gadget monsters and it had a gear around its neck. ( **ATK: 0** DEF: 2000 LV: 4) "Sure, it doesn't seem so tough now, but its special ability makes up for it. As long as I have at least one Gadget monster on the field, it gains 2000 attack points." An aura appeared around the Gadget monsters before it stretched itself into the air. And then, it took the form of a big gear before it approached Dread Dynamo and fit itself into the hole in the robot's body. ( **ATK: 0-2000** ) "And thanks to Machine Assembly Line, Dread Dynamo gets even stronger." ( **ATK: 2000-2200** )

"That's a lot of machinery." Clover commented.

Xander smiled. "What can I say? That's my style. Now for some shifting gears and kicking rears! Yellow Gadget, attack Celtic Guardian!" The yellow robot dashed forward and gave the elven warrior a punch in his face, causing to explode. "And now Red Gadget, destroy Warrior Lady of the Wasteland!" The red robot leapt in the air and landed a kick on the warrior lady's chest, causing another explosion.

"You just triggered her special ability." Clover said. "When she's destroyed in battle, I can summon an earth, warrior type monster with up to 1500 attack points. So say hello to Amazoness Swords Woman." A muscular woman with wavy fire red hair appeared. She was wearing a blue shirt, a fur skirt and more fur clothing at her arms and legs. And she was also wielding an impressive curved sword. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1600 LV: 4)

"Green Gadget, attack!" The green robot leapt toward the swords woman and punched her hard on her stomach, shattering her to pixels. But, after the battle was over, Zander winced a little.

 **Xander: 2500-2400**

"Thanks to my Swords Woman's special ability, any battle damage she takes is dealt to you instead of me."

Xander just smirked. "A small prize to pay for a direct attack. Go, Dynamo!" The brown robot dashed over to Clover.

"I activate my trap…" Her facedown card flipped up. "Defense Draw!" At that, her deck glowed brightly before it created a barrier that blocked the punch from Dynamo. "This card reduces the battle damage from your attack to zero. And as a bonus, I get to draw a card from my deck." She drew her extra card.

"I end my turn." Xander concluded.

"I draw!" Clover drew a card. "And I summon Skilled White Magician." A man wearing white robes and a hood appeared. He had three jewels on them and carried a white scepter. ( **ATK: 1700** DEF: 1900 LV: 4) "And next I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards." After she drew her extra cards, one of the magician's jewels lit up blue. ( **Spell Counter: 1** )

Xander blinked when he noticed that. "What's with that light?"

"It's called a Spell Counter, and that is something my Magician gets when a spell card is activated." Clover explained. "And speaking of spell cards, I'm gonna play this." She held up a card. "The spell card Emblem of Dragon Destroyer. This lets me take a certain monster card from my deck or graveyard and add it to my hand." Clover went through her deck and took the card she wanted. At the same time, another spell counter lit up ( **Spell Counter: 1-2** ) "And that monster is…" She held up the card she took from her deck. It had a picture of a purple armor clad warrior with a sword that had blue jewels adorned on it. "Buster Blader."

"Uh oh." Xander widened his eyes.

"And now I play the spell card Banner of Courage!" Another spell card appeared on the field, and the third spell counter lit up. ( **Spell counter: 2-3** ) Clover was now smirking. "Now I can activate my Skilled White Magician's second ability. If he has three spell counters, I can sacrifice him and summon this…" The magician covered himself in a bright, white aura. "My Buster Blader!" When the aura dissipated, the magician was replaced by the purple armored warrior. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2300 LV: 7)

Xander took a step back at this.

"Now Buster Blader, attack his Yellow Gadget! Dragon Sword Attack!" The warrior over to the yellow robot. "Oh, I almost forgot. During my battle phase, Banner of Courage gives all my monsters 200 attack points." ( **ATK: 2600-2800** ) The warrior used his sword to cleave the robot in half.

 **Xander: 2400-1000** ( **Junk Counter: 4-6** )

( **ATK: 2800-2600** ) "I place one card facedown and end my turn." Clover concluded as she inserted a card into her duel disk.

"Alright!" Xander drew. "Let's see how you handle this, I activate the trap card, Roll Out!" His facedown card flipped up. "This lets me take a Union monster from my graveyard and equip it to any monster with the right requirements. There is only one monster in my graveyard, and that would be Heavy Mech Support Platform!" The familiar, mechanical platform appeared. "And this Union monster is specifically made for machine type monsters, and I've got plenty of them, including Dread Dynamo." The platform flew up and made a loop, while the brown robot jumped up in the air before it landed on the union monster. "And now for the best part, while being equipped with the platform, my monster gains 500 attack and defense points." ( **ATK: 2200-2700** DEF: 2000-2500) "Now attack her Buster Blader!" The twin-barreled laser lit up as its was charging up.

"I won't let you destroy my monster that easily!" Clover interrupted. "I activate Nightmare Wheel!" As soon as her trap card flipped up, the brown robot was suddenly strapped to a giant spiked wheel inside a monster's jaw. As a result, the platform was laying on the ground in front of it. "This trap card keeps your monster from attacking and change battle mode."

Xander scratched the back of his head. "Geez, you just keep stopping me from damage you."

"You need to step up your game, Xander." Clover said. "Otherwise, you won't do well at the school duel."

"I know." Xander replied while inserting a card into his duel disk. "I place one card facedown and switch Red Gadget and Green Gadget to defense mode. And that ends my turn." The two named monsters crossed their arms.

"In that case…" Clover drew a card. "You better brace yourself. Because during my standby phase, my Nightmare Wheel deals 500 points of damage to you."

Xander winced when a purple aura surrounded him.

 **Xander: 1000-0500**

"And now I attack your Green Gadget with my Buster Blader!" The warrior slashed the green robot with his sword, causing an explosion. ( **Junk Counter: 6-8** ) "And since you only 500 life points left, my trap card will wipe you out on my next turn, unless you'll play something to prevent that from happening."

Xander smirked. "You mean something like this?" His facedown card flipped up. "This is the trap card Solemn Wishes, and as long as it remains on the field, I gain 500 life points whenever I draw cards from my deck."

Clover smiled. "Not bad. In that case, I summon D.D. Warrior Lady defense mode." A woman covered in dark grayish armor appeared. SHe had long blonde hair and held a sword in one hand. (ATK: 1500 **DEF: 1600** LV: 4) "I end my turn with a facedown card.

"My move." Xander drew a card.

 **Xander: 0500-1000**

"First I activate the spell card Iron Draw. Since I have two machine type effect monsters on the field, I can draw two cards from my deck." He drew his extra cards.

 **Xander: 1000-1500**

Xander looked at his two cards and smiled. "This will do." That comment made Clover react. "I sacrifice my Red Gadget and Dread Dynamo in order to summon…" The two robots disappeared, along with the platform. And that caused the spiked wheel to disappear as well. "Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon!" A shriek was heard from the monster that appeared. It was a big, mechanical dragon with wings and a long tail. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 2000 LV: 8) "Now this is more like it." Xander commented.

Clover shook her head, making him confused. "As impressive as that was, I'm afraid you just triggered my trap card, Trap Hole." Her facedown card flipped up. "Since you summoned a monster with over 1000 attack points, that monster is destroyed."

Xander gasped and watched as his mechanical dragon exploded. ( **Junk Counter: 8-10** ) "Damn."

"I told you to step up your game." Clover reminded him, speaking in a concerned but scolding voice. But it was then she noticed the smirk on his face.

"That's exactly what I'm intending to. And I'm starting with this…" A certain spell card on his field glowed. "I activate the second effect of my Machine Assembly Line. By sending it to the graveyard, I can summon a machine type monster from my graveyard, as long as that monster's level is not higher than the number of Junk counters I have on my spell. I've got 10 counters and that's more than enough to resurrect my level 8 monster, Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon." The spell card was enveloped in a light before it disappeared. And then, the mechanical dragon flew out of the light. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 2000 LV: 8)

Clover smiled. "That's better. Well done."

"Thanks. But as strong as my dragon is, I have to play something stronger."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "And how are you gonna do that? Since you played Iron Draw, you were only allowed to special summon once this turn. And you already did that by summoning your dragon."

That didn't bother Xander a bit. "I don't need a special summoning, but rather a normal summoning. And I'll start by using Ultimate Offering and summon my second Red Gadget." The copy of the red robot from earlier appeared. ( **ATK: 1300** DEF: 1500 LV: 4)

 **Xander: 1500-1000**

"And with him summoned, I can take another Yellow Gadget from my deck and add it to my hand." He took the named card from his deck. "And now I'll use the effect of Ultimate Offering again, so I can sacrifice my Gadget _and_ my dragon."

 **Xander: 1000-0500**

Clover widened her eyes. "What!? But why would you sacrifice your dragon."

"So I can summon something even stronger!" Xander's monsters disappeared. "Now come forth, Ancient Gear Reactor Dragon!" A new monster rose from the ground behind him and let out a mighty roar. Just like one of Xander's previous monster, this one was a dragon with metallic wings. But this monster was more like a serpentine-dragon that was bigger than Gadjiltron Dragon. It had a glowing chest piece, most likely its power source. **ATK: 3000** DEF: 3000 LV: 9)

"Whoa!" Clover gasped. "That monster really looks stronger, even though it has same attack points as your Gadjiltron Dragon."

Xander nodded. "That's true, but this bad boy is full of special abilities. Like this one, for example, since I sacrificed an Ancient Gear monster to summon it, my dragon can cause battle damage, even if it attacks a monster in defense mode. Now Reactor Dragon, attack her D.D. Warrior Lady with Ancient Reactor Blast." The dragon reared back its head while its chest piece glowed brighter. And then, it unleashed a red energy beam from its mouth, targeting the blonde woman.

"That's a big mistake, Xander." Clover said. "I may lose some of life points, but if my Warrior Lady battles a monster, I can remove both of them from play." The warrior lady jumped forward and flew into the energy beam. And then, when she reached the dragon's mouth and stabbed it with her blade, a massive explosion occurred.

 **Clover: 4000-2600**

Clover waited for the smoke to clear up. But when it did, she was shocked to see the dragon still flying behind Xander. "What!? It's still there!?"

Xander grinned. "Yup. I told you, my dragon is full of abilities, not just one. And the reason it's still here is because when it attacks, you can't activate any spell, trap or monster effects."

"Okay, I see you're getting serious now." Clover noted.

"More serious than you think. My dragon has another ability. After it destroys a monster in battle, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field, and I choose your facedown card." The dragon fired another energy beam and destroyed Clover's facedown card. "And with that done, you should know that my dragon has one more ability, and it only works if I sacrificed a Gadget monster to summon it. And as you know, Red Gadget was one of the sacrifices, so you're going to get it now. My dragon can attack twice each turn, which means my next move is letting it attack your Buster Blader."

Clover gasped in shock as the dragon fired another energy beam that easily destroyed the purple armored warrior.

 **Clover: 2600-2200**

"My Buster Blader is gone!"

"Got that right. And with another monster destroyed, I can destroy another card, like Banner of Courage." The named spell card was blasted by the dragon. "And now I'll end my turn."

"Alright then. I draw." Clover looked at the card she drew and smirked. "Okay, I activate Swords of Revealing Light." Swords of light appeared and surrounded the mechanical dragon. "From now on, you can't attack for three turns, and that's all for now."

Xander drew a card.

 **Xander: 0500-1000**

"Hm, I might not be able to attack, but I can play this…" He held up a spell card. "Pot of Avarice. This card lets me take five monsters from my graveyard and shuffle them back into my deck." The cards coming out from the graveyard were Green Gadget, Red Gadget, Yellow Gadget, Boot-Up Soldier - Dread Dynamo and Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon. Xander picked up those cards and shuffled them into his deck. "And then, I get to draw two cards." He drew his extra cards.

 **Xander: 1000-1500**

"Next I summon Ancient Gear Cannon." The ground receded, revealing a small, robotic gun turret that was made up of several gears. ( **ATK: 500** DEF: 500 LV: 2) "Next I activate the spell card Machine Duplication. This lets me choose a machine type monster with up to 500 attack points and then, I can summon up to 2 monsters with the same as the one I choose. So I'll get two more Ancient Gear Cannons." Two copies of the cannon appeared. ( **ATK: 500** DEF: 500 LV: 2) x2

"That's a good headline." Clover commented.

"If you like _that_ , then you're going to love this: By sacrificing one Ancient Gear Cannon, I can deal 500 points of damage to you. How about if I fire all three of them."

Clover braced herself as each cannon fired two shots at her before disappearing.

 **Clover: 2200-0700**

"I end my turn." Xander concluded.

Clover drew a card and frowned. _'DNA Surgery? I don't know how it's gonna help, but I guess I have to do something.'_  
"I place a card facedown and end my turn." A card appeared in front of her.

"Then here I go."

 **Xander: 1500-2000**

"I summon Yellow Gadget." The yellow robot appeared again. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And as you know, this monster lets me take a Green Gadget from my deck to my hand. And I think I'll bring him out to the field, thanks to Ultimate Offering."

 **Xander: 2000-1500**

The green robot rose next to the yellow robot. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 800 LV: 4) "And why stop there when I can add Red Gadget to my hand and summon it as well?"

 **Xander: 1500-1000**

The red robot joined its comrades. ( **ATK: 1300** DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "And I activate the spell card Solidarity." The card appeared behind Green Gadget. "Here's how it works: if I only have one type of monster in my graveyard, this card gives all monsters of that type on my field 800 attack points. In this case, machine type monsters." ( **ATK: 1400-2200** ) ( **ATK: 1300-2100** ) ( **ATK: 1200-2000** ) ( **ATK: 3000-3800** ) "I end my turn."

"I draw." Clover began her next turn. "I summon The Trojan Horse in defense mode." A wooden horse laid down in front of her. (ATK: 1600 **DEF: 1200** LV: 4) "I end my turn."

Xander drew a card...

 **Xander: 1000-1500**

and looked at it. _'Ooh, this one is good.'_ He thought while smiling. "I play a facedown and end my turn, and that's the end of your Revealing light card." The swords of light disappeared.

"Then this is all or nothing." Clover muttered, prepared to draw her next card. _'Alright, here goes!'_ She drew the card and looked at it. She widened her eyes before she gave Xander a smirk. "Looks like this is the end."

"Huh?" Xander blinked.

"I activate The Warrior Returning Alive. Now I can take a warrior type monster from my graveyard and add it to my hand. And I choose Buster Blader." The named card came out of the graveyard slot before she grabbed it. "And now for my next move, if I would tribute summon an earth attribute monster, I can use The Trojan Horse as two sacrifices."

"No way!" Xander exclaimed.

"Now come forth, Buster Blader!" The wooden horse was gone and the purple armored warrior took its place. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2300 LV: 7)

"Nicely played." Xander commented.

"Thanks, and that's just the beginning, because now I reveal my facedown card." Her card flipped up. "I activate DNA Surgery!"

Xander gasped in horror. "Oh no!"

"That's right, this trap card lets me change all monsters on the field to any type I choose. And I'll let them become dragons!" At that, all monsters on the field went through transformations. Buster Blader's armor changed into an armor with dragon-like features. It had dragon-like claws and talons, a sharp tail and a pair of wings. Even the face became dragon-like.

The gear monsters became more dragon-like as well. Both Yellow Gadget and Red Gadget became thin dragons with tails and their round hands and feet being replaced by claws and talons. They still had their gears on their backs. Green Gadget was a different case. It's face became dragon-like and a tail appeared from its back. But, because the monster's center part of its body was a single gear, Green Gadget became a walking gear with dragon limbs. And as for Ancient Gear Reactor Dragon, it's whole body changed completely. Instead of being a winged, mechanical serpentine-dragon, it was now a winged serpentine-dragon with grayish green scales and red eyes.

"And since they are dragons now, they lose their extra points." Clover pointed out. ( **ATK: 2200-1400** ) ( **ATK: 2100-1300** ) ( **ATK: 2000-1200** ) ( **ATK: 3800-3000** )

Xander was getting nervous. "This isn't good."

"It gets worse." The redhead replied. "My Buster Blader has a special ability. He gains 500 attack points for every dragon type monster on your field and in your graveyard. And since there are four dragons on your field… ( **ATK: 2600-4600** )

"Help!" Xander yelped.

"Time to to wrap this up! Now Buster Blader, end this duel with Dragon Sword Attack!" The dragon armored warrior leapt forward and slashed Ancient Gear Reactor Dragon with his sword.

 **Xander: 1500-0000**

The holograms disappeared and Xander fell on the ground, landing on his butt.

"Man, what a turn of events." He muttered.

He then saw Clover approach him and held out her hand. "Nicely played, Xander. You almost got me there." She said while smiling.

Xander smiled and took her hand allowing her to help him up. "Thanks. That was a great duel."

The redhead nodded. But then, she couldn't help but ask him something. "It's one thing I'm wondering, though. What was your facedown card?"

Xander smiled sheepishly as took the card in question from his duel disk and held it up. "It was this. The spell card Limiter Removal. As you know, this doubles the attack points of machine type monsters."

"So my trap card prevented you from using it, huh?" Clover summarized.

"Of course, I could have chained your DNA Surgery with it and increase my monsters' strength _before_ they turned into dragons. But since any monster affected by this card is destroyed at the end of the turn, that would leave me defenseless."

"Well, live and learn, as they say." Clover said. "So, how about we check out the newbie's progress?"

"Sure." Xander replied.

With that said, they returned to the area where the fifty man duel gauntlet. But when they arrived, they were shocked to see almost all 50 students laying on the ground, undoubtedly beaten by Chazz.

"Wow! That guy works fast." Xander remarked.

"No kidding." Clover agreed, being as shocked as him. They turned to where Czar was sitting, with the one named Kyle, along with the other three guys standing by him.

"So what?" Rick said.

"Beating those amateurs doesn't prove a thing." Kyle added.

"You still have to get through the four of us." Bob pointed out.

"Only then you can duel the Czar." Jack added.

"Duel each one of you?" That'll take too long. How about I take you all on at once?" Chazz suggested.

"You're on!" His opponents said.

"DUEL!"

 **Chazz: 4000**

 **Kyle: 4000**

 **Rick: 4000**

 **Bob: 4000**

 **Jack: 4000**

"My turn." Rick said as he drew a card. "Come on out, Marauding Captain!" A man with short, blonde hair appeared. He was wearing a rusty suit of armor and he wielded a sword. "And I'm not done yet. When this monster card is summoned to the field, I'm allowed to summon another warrior type monster, and I'll play another Marauding Captain!" A duplicate of the first warrior appeared.

Chazz watched this without worrying at all. The yellow spirit who appeared next to him, on the other hand, was a little nervous.

"And so will I." Kyle said while drawing a card.

"Me too." Bob said.

"Same with me." Jack added.

The yellow spirit screamed in fear upon seeing 8 identical warriors on the opposite side of the field. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 400 LV: 3) x8

"Oh, and in case you'd forgotten, rookie, when there are two or more captains on the field, you can't attack any of them." Rick said.

"Nah, he didn't forget that, because he probably never even knew it in the first place." Kyle taunted.

"Ha, good point." Bob replied. "And now he'll suffer for it."

"Please, the only way you scrubs could make me suffer is to keep blabbing like you are." Chazz said. "My turn. I'll play two facedowns and one Giant Rat in defense mode." A very large blue rat holding a bleached white skull in its paws appeared in front of a pair of facedown cards. (ATK: 1400 **DEF: 1450** LV: 4)

"All you're throwing in is an overgrown rodent? What a joke!" Jack said mockingly.

Chazz smirked. "Perhaps, after all, he is a weaker card. One that the old Chazz would never have in his deck. But I learned something since I arrived here. I learned that life deals you all kinds of cards. And sometimes you have to make the best out of what you've got."

 _"Aw, that's so nice of you, Boss."_ The duel spirit said. _"You're talking about me, huh?"_

"Actually, I wasn't!" Chazz said to the spirit, giving him an annoyed look. "You're still as annoying and revolting and nonexistent as ever, got it!?" His opponents stared at him blankly, thinking he was getting insane. "You're a disgusting little yellow gremlin and I don't like you! So quit bugging me!" The Giant Rat thought Chazz was talking to him, so he couldn't help but form a depressed look on his face.

Even Clover and Xander, who were watching nearby found his behavior weird.

"Okay? What the hell is with him?" Clover wondered.

"Beats me." Xander said.

"Disgusting, maybe. But little and yellow? Rick asked. "Get your eyes checked. Now back to the duel." He drew a card. "I play The Allied Forces." A spell card appeared. "It allows all warrior type monsters to gain 200 attack points for each warrior type monster out on the field. Which means Marauding Captain now has 2800 attack points!" An aura surrounded the warriors, increasing their strength. ( **ATK: 1200-2800** ) x8 "Now go! Smash that rat!" One of the captains jumped in the air and swung his sword at the giant rat.

"He's defenseless, charge in men!" After hearing Kyle's command, all the other Marauding Captains ran towards Chazz.

"Sorry, but I play my rat's ability." Chazz interrupted. "It lets me summon an earth attribute monster with 1500 or fewer attack points. So come on out, Gyaku Gire Panda!" A large, angry panda with sharp teeth and holding a bamboo stick in one of its paws rose on his field. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 1600 LV: 3)

"Look at the big teddy bear. How cuddly." Bob taunted.

"You may not think so after this." Chazz said, making Bob confused. "I play Panda's ability. For every monster on your field, he gains 500 attack points. Not so cuddly now, is he?" The panda growled as it glowed with a red aura and grew much bigger. ( **ATK: 800-4800** ) "And next I'm going to activate a trap, Ring of Destruction!" A metal ring with red bombs appeared around the panda's neck. "This trap destroys one monster, and then all players take damage equal to that monster's attack points."

"But why? We'll all just end up with 0 life points." Jack pointed out.

"I won't." Chazz said with a smirk. "Because I have, Ring of Defense!" A wheel with four green metal plates attached to the exterior appeared between Chazz and his monster. It the began spin fast enough to seem like a full circle. "This spell card protects me from all damage. You… go… Bye… Bye!" The ring around the panda's neck detonated and caused a big explosion that was strong enough to blow away all captains and knocking down the North Academy students.

 **Kyle: 4000-0000**

 **Rick: 4000-0000**

 **Bob: 4000-0000**

 **Jack: 4000-0000**

This ending was shocking for Clover and Xander.

"Wow!" Xander said.

"Beating four opponents in one turn? That was impressive." Clover commented.

Chazz turned to the Czar was sitting his chair. "Alright Granny, outta the rocker. You're up."

The muscular man stood up. "Yeah and you're going down." He said as he inserted his deck into his duel disk. "Cuz now it's the Czar against the Princeton. And there ain't no way I'm going to get shot off my throne by you. Get ready for a battle royale."

"Looks like he's about to face the Czar." Xander noted.

"Yeah, and I'm curious about what that guy is about to do." Clover replied.

"You think he can win?"

"I don't know. But I wouldn't say the Czar is too hard to beat. I was able to beat him with ease since I used my own deck instead of cards from the icy wasteland."

The named North Academy was now standing in front of Chazz, getting ready to start.

"DUEL!"

 **Chazz: 4000**

 **Czar: 4000**

"Me first." The Czar drew a card. "And I'm going to activate two copies of Fiend's Sanctuary. Now I get two Metal Fiend Tokens." A pair of gray figures made of built up metal balls appeared. ( **ATK: 0** DEF: 0 LV: 1) x2 "But like you, they won't be staying long. I sacrifice them and summon Zoa!" The two tokens disappeared and made room for a huge, blu-skinned demon with powerful limbs and and yellow fangs. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 1900 LV: 7) "Next I'll place two facedowns and end my turn." Two cards appeared at his feet. "Ha! Already my side of the field's stacked. See how it's different with the Czar?"

"But it'll end the same. My turn." Chazz drew his next card and to his annoyance, it was his duel spirit. "Ah, you again?"

 _"Nice to see you too."_ It said when it came out of his card. _"Need me to fight a monster for ya? Let's do it!"_ But when he turned around and got a good look on the blue fiend type monster… _"Ohhh, never mind."_

"You know, I think I finally found a way to get rid of you. I play Ojama Yellow!"

The spirit appeared on the field. "No please! Anyone but me!" (ATK: 0 **DEF: 1000** LV: 2)

"Then I'll toss two facedowns and my turn." Chazz concluded as two cards appeared behind his monster.

Czar laughed. "Time out. Some garbage has blown onto the field. Oh wait, I'm sorry, that's just your monster." He said mockingly as he drew a card. "Oh well, he's going to be trashed anyway. I play the trap card Metalmorph! And I'll equip it to Zoa!" One of his facedown card flipped up and the muscular fiend was covered by a thin film of metallic gray. "And now I'm going to sacrifice Zoa so I can summon something even better..." The fiend monster disappeared as the dirt around it, along with lots of rocks were tossed into the air. "The ferocious Metalzoa!" Another monster rose up from the ground. It was even bigger, made entirely of metal, stood on two legs, had large claws, and generally looked like some kind of destructive robot. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 2300 LV: 8)

Ojama Yellow was getting scared of the sight of it.

"And next, I'm going to activate another trap card, Call of the Haunted." The Czar's second facedown card flipped up. "Now I can bring back one monster from my graveyard. And I'll bring back regular Zoa." The blue-skinned appeared next to its metallic counterpart. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 1900 LV. 7)

The imaginary Jaden appeared once again. _"Boy oh boy. Two monsters with 2600 and 3000 attack points? What on earth are you gonna do, Chazz?"_

The Princeton smirked. "Easy, I'm gonna win."

The Czar heard him and grinned. "Ya know, talking to yourself is pretty crazy as it is. But thinking you're going to win, even crazier. Know why? Cuz I just watched you duel 49 times. I know your deck. I know you don't have one monster as strong as these."

 _'Maybe, but I know how to make the best out of what I've got.'_

"I think the Czar is a little overconfident." Clover noted while shaking her head.

"Yeah." Xander said. "And for the record, this Princeton guy or whoever he is, took down the last four guys at the same time. So technically, he actually dueled 45 times." He then tapped his chin with a finger. "Or 46 times?"

"Alright, Zoa attack! Glimmer Strike!" The blue-skinned demon fired off a green colored 'X' from its forehead at Ojama Yellow, who cried in fear before getting hit. "And now that he's been taken care of, Metalzoa's going to take care of you. Hardened Glimmer Strike!" The metal counterpart crossed its arms and swung them forward, creating another green 'X' which passed through Chazz.

 **Chazz: 4000-1000**

The Czar crossed his arms. "The Princeton's place is at the heel of the Czar, and that is just where I'm going to put you."

"Yeah, don't bet on it." Chazz retorted.

"Huh?"

"See, I was waiting for you to attack me, so I could play Inferno Tempest!" Chazz revealed a facedown spell card. "With this card, when I take 3000 or more points of damage, all monsters in both our graveyards and decks are taken out of play."

"Why would you do that? What are you planning?" Czar demanded

Chazz smirked. "If you know my deck as well as you say you do, then I'm sure you know. And you know that your reign as Czar is coming to an end." He took his deck and took out all monster cards in it and the graveyard, then placed the remaining cards into his deck slot.

"What are you talking about!? I have two monsters out. You have none! And now you don't have any in your deck! You've lost! My reign's not over, it never been stronger! You're about to lose!"

"Oh, am I? We'll see, here!" Chazz drew his next card and looked at it. "Alright, now Czar, you my friend, are about to get royally crowned and not in a good way. I play, the spell Chaos End!" He held up the card he just drew.

Then all of a sudden, cracks began to appear all over Zoa and Metalzoa.

"What's going on!?" The Czar asked with a horrified look on his face.

"Well, that's the magic of Chaos End. When seven or more cards are removed from the game, Chaos End destroys every monster on your field."

"No way!" The monsters were blown to pieces.

"And now, I'll play a trap, that's a blast from the past, Return From the Different Dimension!" After the trap card flipped up, a swirling vortex appeared in the sky.

 **Chazz: 1000-500**

"By paying half my life points, the monsters I removed from play are allowed to be brought back and summoned to the field. Every last one of them." He raised his arm to the swirling vortex. "Now, come on back everyone"

The first monster was a purple armored warrior carrying two discs. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1000 LV: 4)

The second was the crab-like machine monster, KA-2 Des Scissors. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1000 LV: 4)

The third was two demons, one blue, the other purple, with both having white faces, horns coming out of their heads, dragon like wings and tails. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1000 LV: 4)

The fourth was a skeleton wearing gray armor and a red cape and holding a curved blade. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1200 LV: 3)

And to Chazz's annoyance, the fifth monster was Ojama Yellow. ( **ATK: 0** DEF: 1000 LV: 2) "Hey, thanks Boss."

"I meant everyone _except_ you!"

Those harsh words made the duel spirit cry.

"No… wait! Stop!" The Czar begged in panic.

"Stop? I don't think so. Now give the Czar a king sized clobbering!" The four thousand attack points monsters attacked the North Academy student simultaneously. The combined attack caused the Czar to scream and fall to the ground.

 **Czar: 4000-0000**

"You go bye-bye!" Chazz said as his opponent lay on the ground with swirling eyes.

"What do you know? That guy actually won." Xander said, being impressed by the comeback.

"That's what the Czar gets for being overconfident." Clover added.

"Well done. You've earned the right to be called the best."

Chazz looked up from the Czar to see the same goggle wearing stranger from the submarine, but without the seaweeds, allowing him to see the orange scarf being used as a hood. "It's you! The guy who rescued me. But how did get into the school?"

"Why, you let me in of course." He reached for his scarf and pulled it down a little to reveal a hat on his head, which he took off, along with his goggles.

Chazz was shocked to see the stranger's face. "Wait! Now you're the bald guy?"

"I'm this school's chancellor. The name's Foster. And the camp outside, that sub out at sea. It was all just to get to you, young duelist."

"To me? What for?"

"Because you have a gift, Chazz. And I sensed it as soon as you handled that Ojama Yellow card."

"I hate that stinking that!" Chazz retorted.

Foster smiled. "You might now, but you'll learn. Hopefully in time for the School Duel. You see Chazz, you're now the best duelist at North Academy. That means you'll be one of our representatives at the School Duel."

"So I'm going up against someone from Duel Academy?" Chazz questioned.

Foster kneeled down to the Czar who still motionless. "That's right. Along two other students, we had chosen Czar at first, but clearly he's not nearly as good as you are. Besides, to tell you the truth, I never really liked him."

The Czar snapped out of it and blinked upon hearing what Foster said.

"I don't blame you. I mean, what kinda duelist sits in a rocking chair."

"It doesn't matter. You're the top duelist now, it's to you the school bows." On cue, the Czar got his knees and bowed to Chazz. And so did all the other students, except Clover and Xander.

"So who's the unlucky punk I'm dueling?"

"Who? The one I promised you. The one called Jaden Yuki."

"Jaden!?" Chazz's eyes widened. "You gotta be kidding!"

"No. This is your chance for revenge."

"Revenge?" Chazz chuckled evilly. "I can't wait. I'm gonna beat him so bad, he's never gonna wanna duel again." He then laughed so loud it echoed around the school and into the icy wasteland outside the school.

Clover and Xander shook their hands.

"Oh boy. Dramatic much." Xander said.

"Tell me about it. That guy has issues." Clover added.

"Oh well, guess it can't be helped. The third rep has been chosen."

"Yeah."

Xander turned to Clover. "Are you looking forward to the School Duel?"

Clover looked at him and smiled. "You bet I do." She took out her deck and picked up one of her cards. "Especially with the one _I'm_ going to face off against." The card she was looking at was monster card with the picture a brown-skinned man with black hair tied to a ponytail and a giant sword on his back. It was a level 4 earth attribute monster with 1500 attack points and 1600 defense points.

* * *

 **Hmm. This chapter became a little longer than I expected, but I hope you like it. Until next time.**


	32. Chapter 32

**The School Duel: Part: 1 - A Duel Between Old Friends**

It was night at North Academy and the sky was hidden behind dark clouds, complete with a thunderstorm. Even the lights inside the building were dimmed down to the point that it gave off a more sinister touch to the place. But these conditions didn't change the mood of the students.

Everyone was gathered in a huge crowd, facing a high platform centered against the far wall. On the platform, Chazz, Clover and Xander were standing in front of all the students. Chazz wasn't wearing his Obelisk uniform anymore. Instead, he was wearing a slightly black jacket. And for the moment, he and the other two were facing Foster.

"Students of North Academy!" Foster raised his arms. "I present to you, our school's new top duelist!" He approached the smirking Chazz. "He, along with our two other chosen duelists will face off against our Duel Academy rivals. And I present to him, North Academy's top dueling cards!" He held up a set of cards which he gave to him. "With them you will triumph! You will Chazz it up!"

The students assembled cheered for him. "Chazz it up! Chazz it up! Chazz it up! Chazz it up!"

"'Chazz it up'?" Clover asked as she raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Hush! Otherwise, the chancellor will scold us." Xander whispered.

Chazz turned around to face the cheering students and raised his left arm. "Duel Academy is toast!"

The students followed suit and raised their fists into the air continued with the cheer.

* * *

Today was the day of the School Duel, and right now, Jaden and Andrew were in the main dueling arena by themselves.

"Hey Andrew, how about we call out our monsters for the final rally?" Jaden asked, turning on his duel disk.

"You know what?" Andrew pondered. "That sounds okay to me." He then turned on his own duel disk.

"In that case…" Jaden grinned and drew a card from his deck. "Come on out, Elemental HERO Avian!" The winged green hero appeared next to the Slifer student. "And now, Burstinatrix!" The female hero spun herself around and landed next her ally. "And while we're at it, Clayman, Sparkman, you guys come out too!" The stone and electric heroes joined their comrades.

"My turn then." Andrew drew cards. "First up, Stratos!" The turbine winged hero appeared in the air flew around in circles before landing on the floor. "And next up, Blazeman!" The red armored, fiery headed hero rose next to Stratos. "And for the final two, Ocean and Woodsman!" First the aquatic hero raised his trident as he appeared. Then the wooden hero stood up with his arms crossed.

"Yeah…" Jaden smiled brightly. "We've got the sweetest monsters ever!"

"You got it." Andrew agreed. "With these guys on our side, North Academy's in for a surprise."

"Hey guys!"

"I see you two are prepared."

The boys turned to see Syrus and Bastion enter the arena.

"Hey guys! What's up?" Andrew greeted.

"Well, we were actually looking for you two." Bastion replied. "Everyone's waiting for us."

"For us?" Jaden asked. "What for?"

"For the Greet 'n Meet." Syrus said. "North Academy just showed up! Your opponents are here!"

"Then what are you waiting around here for? Let's go!" At that, Jaden ran off as the holograms of his monsters disappeared.

"Well yeah, I mean, that's why… Oh, wait up!" Syrus called out while running after him.

"That's Jaden for ya." Andrew commented. "When there is something to do dueling, he can't resist to run after it."

"Indeed. How he even get those extra energy, is a wonder to me." Bastion added.

"Come on, let's go after them." At that, the two Ra students ran off.

* * *

Meanwhile at the docks, North Academy's submarine was stationed and the bridge pulled down so that they could walk across to the mainland. North Academy's students all standing, lining up on the sub's deck, while the people from Duel Academy were waiting as Chancellor Sheppard greeted the Chancellor from North Academy. "Foster, it's been far too long how've you been?"

"I've been well, thank you." Foster greeted back as he shook hands with him. "Ever since I got over the defeat you handed us at last year's School duel."

"Oh, It was a close match."

"Not really." Foster replied, making Sheppard confused. "But this year, I have a feeling it will be."

"Yes, I'm sure it will. To a spirited competition between our two schools."

At that moment, Jaden, Andrew and Bastion emerged into the scene.

"Yeah, yeah, spirited." Jaden said. "But enough with all the how you doins, I wanna meet who I'm gonna be dueling."

The two chancellors let go of the handshake. "Yes, Jaden. We were getting to that." Sheppard lightly scolded.

"Great. Then I'll just wait right here till we get there."

"Then you better be patient for once, Jaden." Andrew said.

"Indeed." Bastion.

Foster turned to the Slifer student. "Jaden, so _you're_ Duel Academy's phenom.

"Phenom! That's the coolest thing I've ever been called! What's it mean!?"

Foster fell over in shock. Bastion shook his head. And Andrew face palmed.

"It means be quit." Sheppard scolded.

"So come on, come on! When do I meet my opponent!"

"Right now… Slacker!"

Jaden heard the familiar voice and looked past Foster, at the submarine while the North Academy students stood patiently. "Who just said that?"

"It's me." The person who said that, standing among them was someone Jaden never expected.

"Whoa, hold on a sec! Am I seeing things, or is that really Chazz!"

"You got that right!"

"Well, why are you here?"

"For the duel."

"I think it's sold out."

"I'm in it."

"Like as a ref?" Jaden asked dumbly.

"I'm dueling you!" Chazz answered, annoyed by Jaden's stupidity.

"You mean, it's you? You're one of North Academy's duel reps?"

"What? Since when did you transfer?" Andrew asked, being as surprised as the others.

"Since I stopped getting the respect I deserved here, Wilson." Chazz replied, without blinking.

"Not like you deserved it at all." Bastion said.

"That'll change!" The Czar said. "Now it's payback. You won't give him respect, so he'll take it."

"He'll Chazz you up." Another student said.

"Big time." Chazz added.

Both rivals stared each other down, probably thinking about the upcoming duels. The staring contest didn't last long as another North Academy student stepped forward.

"Okay, I think that's enough, Chazz. How about to let me meet my opponent as well?"

Everyone turned to this student. He was a slim boy with messy, light-brown hair and dark-brown eyes. He was wearing a gray sweater, a pair of overalls, blue sneakers and a pair of mechanic goggles strapped around his forehead.

"After all, you're not the only representative, you know." He said almost annoyed.

"Hey, you're speaking to The Chazz." Czar hissed. "So you better treat him with respect, got that Xander!?"

Xander scowled. "As I recall, I defeated you during that 50 Man Duel Gauntlet, so don't think _you_ have the right to teach me respect." He then walked over to the two Chancellors, ignoring the glare from Chazz and the others.

"So this young man is one of the two other reps from your school?" Sheppard asked, glancing at him.

"That's right." Foster nodded. "This is Xander Murphy. He's one of our best duelists. And, he also has a talent for mechanics."

Xander smiled and offered a handshake. "A pleasure to meet you."

Sheppard accepted it. "Same here, young man."

Jaden decided to greet him as well. "Hi there, I'm Jaden Yuki!"

Xander turned. "Yeah, so I've heard."

"So, what's that about mechanics?"

Xander couldn't help but smirk. "Oh, that? I'm just someone who loves to build and take machines apart. I grew up in my family's mechanic workshop and learn how to repair cars, disassemble computers, stuff like that."

"Hey, that's cool." Jaden complimented.

"Murphy's Mechanics, right?" Bastion asked as he approached them. "That's the name of your workshop, isn't it?"

"Got that right." Xander replied.

"You've heard of it?" Andrew asked.

"Yes, Murphy's Mechanics is one of the best workshops in the world. There are rumors that they even made some machinery related to Duel Monsters."

Xander nodded. "Oh yeah. We certainly did that for a lot of people. But out of all people and companies that we built them for, I'm dreaming about to do that at Kaiba Corp."

Andrew whistled at that. "That's a big dream."

"It certainly is." Bastion agreed. "I'm sure you will get the chance someday. By the way, I'm Bastion Misawa."

Xander widened his eyes. "Ohh, so you're my opponent then." He then offered a handshake. "Then I'm looking forward to a great duel."

"Same here." Bastion accepted it.

"Hey!" Chazz called out, getting everyone's attention. "The Duel Academy is the enemy! You can't just greet them like they're your friends!"

"That's right!" The other North Academy students added.

Xander scowled. "Give it a rest, Chazz! Just because they're our rival doesn't mean it's wrong to be friendly with them!"

"He's right, you know." A female voice spoke up.

Everyone turned to see the source of that voice. It was a girl who just stepped out of the submarine. She scarlet red hair in a pixie cut and green eyes with a beauty mark under the right one. Not to mention she had a body that would give Alexis and Jenny competition. She was wearing a white t-shirt, a red jacket with a black trim, similar to Chazz's jacket, a pair of ripped jeans and black and white sneakers. For the moment, she was scowling at Chazz.

"Seriously, your grudge against Duel Academy is just stupid." She said.

"Back off, pretty boy." Chazz hissed.

That response however, caused the girl to give him a glare and quickly approached him, making most of the North Academy students back away. "What did you call me!?" she asked in a dangerous tone.

Chazz couldn't help but step back nervously.

Meanwhile, the Duel Academy students watched this, focusing mostly on the girl.

"Who is that?" A boy from the Obelisk asked.

"Beats me." Another one said.

"She is kinda pretty." A third Obelisk boy commented.

Even the Duel Academy reps stared at her.

"And who is that?" Jaden asked with a confused look.

Xander smiled. "Well, for starters, she happens to be the third representative of North Academy."

"Is that so?" Bastion asked.

"Yup, and her name is…" Before Xander could finish his sentence however, Andrew pushed him aside and stepped forward and for some reason, he was glaring at the girl hard.

"Clover Penn!"

His friends and Xander were surprised by this.

But that wasn't the only surprise today. The girl, who he addressed as Clover Penn, turned toward him and gave him a glare of her own. "Andrew Wilson!"

Now everyone was surprised. Everyone from both sides.

"Wait, you know her, Andrew?" Jaden asked.

"You know that dork?" Chazz asked.

None of them answered. They were just glaring each other like they were sizing each other up.

Jenny, who were standing nearby with Alexis, watched at this scene worriedly. "I've never seen Andrew like this before. What is it between him and that girl?"

"Good question." Her friend replied, almost as worried as her.

And then, Clover started to walk over to the group slowly, focusing on Andrew. Andrew marched towards her as well, making his friends worried.

"Um, Andrew?" Jaden called out.

"Are you okay?" Bastion asked.

"This doesn't look good." Xander commented.

And finally, Andrew and Clover were standing right in front of each other, still keeping their glares. From what seemed like an eternity, neither of them broke eye contact. Everyone watched this with mixed emotions. Some of them were confused. The rest of them, including Andrew's friends, Xander, Sheppard and Foster, were worried. But before anyone could say anything...

Andrew's glare was gone and was replaced by a big smile. "It's been a long time!"

As a response, Clover's expression was now matching his. "It sure is! How've you been?"

At that, they were hugging each other, causing everyone fall in anime style.

After getting up, Jaden smiled sheepishly. "Okay, so I guess they don't hate each other."

"You think?" Xander asked sarcastically.

Jenny, on the other hand, watched the scene with an annoyed look on her face. _'Who is this girl?'_

Speaking of which, some of the North Academy students didn't like how Andrew was greeting Clover. "Who does he think he is?" One of them muttered angrily.

"Talking to the lovely Clover so casually." Another one grumbled.

"That punk got some nerve." A third one hissed.

Andrew and Clover hugged each other for another couple of seconds before letting go.

"So how have you been at North Academy?" Andrew asked.

"Besides from dealing with the cold weather, I've been fine." Clover replied. "And what about you?"

Andrew shrugged. "Well, pretty much the usual. Keeping my dueling skills on top, helping people in need, ya know…"

Clover smiled and shook her head. "Your typical daily life, that is."

"Um, hello!" Jaden called out, getting their attention. "Don't you think it's rude to ignore introductions?"

"Right." Andrew rubbed the back of his head before he and Clover walked up to his friends. "Jaden, Bastion, meet Clover Penn. She's my childhood friend."

"Your childhood friend?" Bastion asked.

"Childhood friend?" Jenny repeated after hearing what they said.

Jaden smiled at the revelation. "No way."

"It's true. I've known her since we were kids."

Clover smiled and approached Jaden and Bastion. "Nice too meet you."

"Likewise." Jaden replied.

"Same here." Bastion added.

"Well, I didn't expect something like this." Foster admitted.

"Me neither." Sheppard responded.

Before anyone else could say anything, a loud whirring sound filled the sky and a powerful wind made everyone cover their heads.

"Oh great, now what!?" Jaden asked. Everyone turned to see two helicopters hovering in the air above them. The door of one of them opened up and revealed two men in suits and ties. One of them had black hair and a little goatee. The other other one had brown hair.

"Hi Chazz!" The brown-haired man called out.

"What's going on, little brother? Mind if we drop in?" The other man added.

"Slade? Jagger? Why are you here?" Chazz demanded as he was surprised to see his brothers here.

"Why else? To celebrate your big dueling victory!" Jagger yelled back as their helicopter landed on the top of one of the warehouse buildings.

"You _are_ going to win, right Chazz?" Slade asked.

And then, to the Duel Academy and North Academy's surprise, the area was flooded by cameras, wires, microphones and almost any other electrical device, as well as the people who came with it. "That's it! Beautiful! Just act natural!" One of them said from his post in a crane, while the guy next to him held the camera pointed at the older Princeton brothers.

"Alright, a little more to the right! Okay, we're set here with Camera 2!"

Foster turned to the nearest person. "Uh, what's going on here?"

"What's going on? I think you mean _when're_ going on. And the answer is primetime baby!" The man who looked like the director answered. "This School Duel's gonna be broadcast worldwide!"

Jaden turned to the nearest camera with wide eyes. "No way! Me on TV!? In full color! In full stereo!?" Jaden's face was in fact on multiple screens in the equipment vans and across the world.

"I don't believe it. Dueling on television?" Clover asked.

"Yeah. I wonder if the family is watching?" Andrew said.

* * *

 _Wilson's residence._

Well, if one were to look inside the house where Andrew lived, it was clear that Andrew's parents, Marie and George, were sitting on the coach and watched TV. When the screen showed their son's face, they couldn't help but be surprised.

"My goodness! It's Andrew!" Marie said with wide eyes.

"It sure is." George responded as he lightly laughed. "Never thought I would see our son on television."

"Me neither." And then, the screen shifted and showed a certain red-headed girl. "Oh! Isn't that Clover?"

George widened his eyes. "It is. What a surprise."

* * *

 _Somewhere else._

In another house, another man and woman were sitting on a coach, watching TV. The man had short black hair and green eyes. He was wearing a white shirt and a pair of black pants. The woman sitting right next to him had dark blonde hair and light blue eyes. She was wearing a dark pink sweater and a white skirt. These two were Manuel and Shellah Mihaylov, Andrew's uncle and aunt. For the moment, they were watching something they didn't expected.

"Well I'll be damned. It's Andrew." Manuel said, being surprised by this.

"Yeah, it is." Shellah responded. She then turned away from the TV. "Hey, Angie! Come here!"

"Coming mom!" Angie called back. And after about ten seconds, she arrived at the living room. She was wearing a red t-shirt, a pair of blue shorts and of course, her favorite red cap. "What's up?"

"Take a look at this." Manuel replied, pointing at the TV.

When Angie looked at its screen, she was surprised. But that was then replaced by excitement. "No way! Andrew on TV!?"

"Yes, apparently, there is an event called the School Duel, and it's going to be broadcast live." Shellah explained.

"Awesome!" Angie exclaimed as she quickly approached her parents and took a seat between them. "I can't wait!"

* * *

Somewhere, in a big part in a big city, there was a giant screen, allowing the citizens to watch the show. One person in particular happened to pass by and noticed what everyone was interested in. He was a young man who was a little muscular (not like a bodybuilder, but relatively good measured), wearing an opened gray jacket with a white shirt underneath, black sweat pants and dark blue boots. He had short black hair and light-blue eyes. When he saw Andrew's face appear on the screen, his eyes widened a little before he smiled.

"Well, what do you know?" Peter Mihaylov asked himself.

* * *

Back at the Duel Academy, there was still time before the School Duel began. Therefore, Andrew and Clover decided to catch up. They found themselves inside one of the locker rooms. And not just them, the others tagged along. Specifically, Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Bastion, Alexis, Jenny, Shiori, Matt and Michael.

"So, Andrew, mind telling us about your friend here?" Shiori asked.

"I would like to know as well." Matt added.

"Yeah, we all want to know more about your _childhood friend_." Jenny said.

They all waited for either Andrew or Clover to speak. After just over 5 seconds, the former took a breath before he spoke up.

"Well, just like you guys heard, Clover is my childhood friend. We have been neighbors for years."

"So she's from Domino City, just like you?" Bastion asked.

Clover smiled and nodded. "That's right. And we were as close as friends could be. Especially since the day we met…"

* * *

 **Flashback**

It was about 8 years ago, back when Andrew was a little kid. He was a 7 years old boy wearing a light blue shirt, black shorts and white shoes. He was walking around the neighborhood until he came to a playing ground with a slide and two swings. He sat down on one of them and looked up to the sky with a bored look on his face.

"Ugh, how boring." He sighed.

"Hey there!" Someone called out.

Andrew turned to see someone standing in front of him. It was none other than Clover. When she was 7 years old, that is. She was wearing a t-shirt with white and red stripes, gray pants and brown shoes.

Andrew blinked twice before responding. "Um, hello. Who are you?"

Clover smiled. "My name is Clover. What's your name?"

"Andrew."

"Andrew, huh? Mind if sit here?"

"Go ahead. I don't mind."

"Great!" At that, Clover walked over to him and sat on the other swing. "So, what are you doing here all by yourself?"

Andrew looked down toward the ground before answering. "Nothing. I'm just enjoying the weather, that's all."

Clover blinked and looked at him curiously. "Really? You don't have any friends to play with?"

"Well, I do. But most of them are rather with me at school than anywhere else. So I hardly spend time with them anywhere else. But that's fine."

However, Clover pouted at Andrew's explanation. "Nu-huh. That's not okay. Being all alone is not okay at all."

Andrew turned towards her. "Well, what else can I do?"

At that, Clover smiled got off her swing and stood in front of him with her hands on her hips. "You can have fun with me."

Andrew widened his eyes. "What?"

"You heard me. You can't just sit here all alone and do nothing." She held out her hand. "Come on. Let's go."

Andrew was a little surprised. Clover, a girl who hardly know him, wanted to play with him. He hesitated for a moment before he he took her hand and smiled. "Okay." Was all he said before Clover dragged him away.

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"And that's how it began." Clover finished.

"Ohh, so you two became friends just so quickly?" Jaden asked amazed.

"If you ask me, I think that was a little straightforward of you." Michael commented.

"W-well, I." Clover stammered embarrassed.

"Yeah, she was like that." Andrew replied. "Of course, she was always more hotheaded than straightforward."

BONK!

Everyone jumped upon seeing Andrew getting pounded on the head by an annoyed Clover. And then, he groaned while rubbing the red bump he got from the hit.

"Umm." Syrus let out nervously.

"Guess that was a bad thing to say in front of her." Jenny commented.

"Obviously." Alexis added while shaking her head.

After calming down, Clover cleared her throat. "Anyway, since that day, we always played together whenever we could. It was good times. And then, during two years, I've learned the basics of Duel Monsters and thought I could teach Andrew the game."

"No way. Did Andrew learn how to duel from you?" Shiori asked amused.

"Yeah, it's true." Andrew replied. "After seeing Clover duel a few times, I was of course interested…"

* * *

 **Flashback**

 _Two years after Andrew and Clover first met._

The younger Andrew and Clover found themselves inside the kitchen of the Wilson residence, sitting at the table and playing Duel Monsters, using game mats instead of duel disk.

"Okay, here goes." Andrew as he drew a card. He stared at it for a moment and then glanced at the other cards in his hand before he smiled. "First I summon Elemental HERO Wildheart in attack mode." He placed the named warrior monster card on the table. "Then I'll equip him with the spell card Fusion Sword Murasame Blade." He placed the card in the same column as the monster card. "With that done, I'll attack your Axe Dragonute."

Clover smirked as she flipped up a facedown that was placed behind her monster card. "I'll use my trap card Sakuretsu Armor to destroy your monster."

Andrew smirked back. "Sorry, but Wildheart is immune to all trap cards."

Clover widened her eyes before she pouted as she placed her trap and monster card on her graveyard.

"And that's all for me." Andrew concluded.

Clover stopped her pouting and smiled again. "Not bad. You're getting better."

"Thanks."

Meanwhile, two people were sitting on the coach in the living room. One of them was Andrew's mom, Marie. The other one was a woman with green eyes and dark-brown hair that reached down to her shoulders. She was wearing a white t-shirt with two yellow stripes in the middle and a pair of jeans. This woman was Lucy Penn, Clover's mom.

"It's nice to see them play with each other, right?" Lucy asked.

Marie smiled as she nodded. "Yeah. Andrew didn't have anyone to spend so much time with. I'm so glad he found a friend."

"More like _Clover_ found him." Lucy chuckled.

Before they could talk further, they heard a 'ding dong' from the hall.

"Oh! Coming!" Marie called out as she went to the hallway and opened the door. The person who rang the doorbell was a 15 years old Peter Mihaylov. He was wearing a gray t-shirt, black shorts and dark blue shoes. Marie was pleased upon seeing him. "Oh, Peter! So nice of you to come."

"Hi, Aunt Marie." He greeted back with a smile.

Andrew, who heard them both, rushed out of the kitchen and smiled brightly. "Peter!"

"Hey, Andrew. Nice to see you." Peter approached him and ruffled his hair a little. "How've you been?"

"I've been fine."

Clover got curious and came out of the kitchen as well. Peter glanced at her. "Oh. Hello there."

"Hey. My name is Clover." She greeted back with a smile.

"I'm Peter, Andrew's cousin."

Clover turned to Andrew. "That's your cousin?"

"Yeah. He happens to be a Duel Academy student."

Clover widened her eyes. "Really? That's amazing."

Peter chuckled. "It's not a big deal. Duel Academy is just a place that lets me honing my dueling skills."

Clover then grabbed Andrew's right arm. "Speaking of dueling, we haven't finished our match." At that, she dragged him into the kitchen.

Peter followed them and saw them pick up their cards before Clover drew a card from her deck. This perked his interest. "Oh, so you have become interested in Duel Monsters, Andrew?"

He smiled and nodded. "Yup, and Clover has taught me how to duel."

"Alright, here I go." Clover declared as she took a card from her hand and placed it on the table. "First I'll summon Marauding Captain. And with him summoned, I can bring out another monster to the field, like D.D. Warrior Lady." She placed another card on the table. "And with her, I'll attack your Wildheart."

"What? But he has more attack points." Andrew said, confused by her move.

"I know, but my Warrior Lady has a special ability. When she battles a monster, I can remove both of them from play."

Andrew gasped.

"And that leaves you wide open for a direct attack from my captain and that's the end of our duel." She said with a big smile.

"Aww, I lost." Andrew said disappointedly.

Peter placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't feel bad. Anyone has lost at least once in their life. All that matters is to learn from your loss and better yourself. I have no doubt you can be a great duelist someday."

Andrew looked at him. "You really think so?"

Peter smiled and nodded. "I know you will."

Andrew smiled back. "Thank you."

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"After that, Peter gave me and Clover tips about strategies and combos." Andrew said.

"Man, that's cool." Michael commented.

"You're lucky to have such a nice cousin." Jenny added.

"Thanks." Andrew replied.

"Especially since that cousin is a Pro duelist." Shiori said.

That caught everyone's attention.

"Wait! What did you say!?" Syrus asked.

Andrew smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. "Oh right, I never told you guys. My cousin Peter is a Pro League duelist."

At that, they all (minus Shiori) widened their eyes. "WHAT!?"

"Are you serious?" Matt asked.

"You bet he is." Clover said, being amused by their reaction.

Bastion had a thoughtful look on his face while rubbing his chin. "Hmm, Peter Mahaylov…" And then, it dawned on him. "Yes, I remember now. He became the regional championship master three times in a row. During his time in the Pro League, he became known as 'The Master of Dragon Rulers.' "

"Lishus." Chumley said in amazement.

Before anyone could blink, Jaden got into Andrew's face, startling him. "That is totally sweet! So what cards does he have!? How many trophies does he have!? Does he…!"

BONK!

Before Jaden could ask any more questions, he found himself laying on the floor with a red bump on his head, compliments of Clover.

"One story at a time, dummy!" She said irritably.

While everybody else sweat dropped at this, Alexis shook her head. "Kinda saw that coming."

"Same here." Jenny added.

Andrew sighed before he spoke up. "Well, since then, me and Clover were always dueling each other whenever we had time…"

* * *

 **Flashback**

 _"Of course, given the fact that Clover was the one who taught me, she was always the one who won. That is until one day…"_

Clover had her Buster Blader on the table and nothing else. Andrew's field was empty as he began his turn.

"I draw." He looked at the card he drew and smiled. "First I'll summon Burstinatrix." He placed the named card on the table, before he placed another card on it. "And then, with the power of Enemy Controller, I sacrifice her in order to take control over your Buster Blader."

Clover gasped. "No way!"

"And now I'll attack you directly."

"But then that means…" Clover said.

"I win!" Andrew filled in as he was glad for his victory.

Clover got over her shock and smiled at him. "Nice job. Your very first victory."

"Thanks."

But then, she pointed at him with a determined look on her face. "But don't let it get over your head. You may have won today, but next time you might not be so lucky."

Andrew blinked before he matched her expression. "You're on."

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"And that was how our rivalry began." Andrew said.

"Well that's totally sweet." Jaden commented after recovering from the hit he got earlier.

"I'll say." Shiori agreed.

"So you two have been rivals since that day?" Michael asked.

"We certainly did." Clover replied.

* * *

 **Flashback**

Andrew and Clover found themselves inside an arena, dueling each other with their duel disks.

 _"Andrew and I faced each other at card shop tournaments for years, trading victories."_

Clover placed a card on her duel disk, making the familiar purple armored warrior appear.

In response, Andrew flipped his Call of the Haunted and summoned Bladedge to the field.

After that, the two monsters dashed towards each other, ready for battle.

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"Those were the best duels I've ever had." Clover said.

Alexis smiled a bit. "Sounds like you had great times, huh?"

"Yeah, we did."

"That is, until Clover and her family had to move to a city, far away." Andrew spoke up.

The group gasped.

"What? She moved to another city?" Jaden asked.

Clover's expression was almost saddened by his question. "That's right. You see, for about two years ago, my mom was given a big job opportunity and she couldn't resist. Of course, that job takes place far away from Domino City, so we had no choice but to move."

The group were a little saddened by her explanation.

"That's too bad." Shiori said.

"Sorry about that." Jenny said.

Clover just waved it off. "It's fine. We kept always each other in touch by writing letters."

"Of course," Andrew spoke up. "I couldn't let Clover leave Domino City without dueling her one last time."

"Cool. So, did you win?" Jaden asked.

It was silent for 10 seconds before Andrew smiled sheepishly. "I'm afraid not."

"Huh?" Jaden was surprised.

"So Clover had the last laugh, huh?" Shiori said.

Clover smirked. "Got that right."

* * *

 **Flashback**

Andrew and Clover were standing on the street, facing each other in a duel. Andrew was wearing a black t-shirt with a gray hoodie over it, a pair of blue jeans and blue sneakers. Clover was wearing a white t-shirt with a red leather jacket kept open, a pair of ripped jeans and black and white sneakers.

 **Clover: 1400**

 **Andrew: 1300**

Andrew's field was empty. Clover however, had her Buster Blader on the field, and it was her move now.

"This is it!" She declared and drew a card. "Buster Blader, attack!" The purple armored warrior leapt forward and slashed Andrew with his sword, causing him to fall to one knee.

 **Andrew: 1300-0000**

After that, the holograms disappeared as Clover approached him. "And that's that." She said. "Nice game, Andrew."

"Thanks." Andrew replied as he stood up. "One of the many things I'm gonna miss is our duels."

Clover sighed. "I know. It's too bad my family and I have to leave."

"Yeah." Andrew said, being a little saddened.

It was then an idea popped in Clover's mind. "But how about I give you something before I move."

Andrew looked at her curiously. "Like what?"

On cue, Clover began to go through her deck. "Like one of my cards."

Andrew widened his eyes a little. "Oh, you don't really have to…"

"But I want to." She interrupted him. "That's what you deserve at least." Eventually, she found the card she was looking for and held it up. It was Zombina. "You can have this card. So you have something to remember me with."

Andrew took the card and smiled. "Thanks, Clover."

"You're welcome." She smiled.

"If you want me to have one of your cards, you should have one of mine." Andrew picked up his own deck and searched through it. And then, he found the card he wanted to give her and held it up. It was Elemental HERO Wildheart.

Clover was surprised that Andrew wanted to give her that card. "Wildheart? Really? Are you sure?"

"It's fine. Take it. I have another one." He winked while saying the last part.

Clover blinked before she shrugged and took the card. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

And then, Clover gave Andrew a hug. "You better take care of yourself, you got it?"

Andrew returned the hug. "I will."

After that, they pulled away from each other and Clover walked away while waving to him. "I'll see you again someday. Bye bye."

Andrew waved back. "Bye bye."

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"And that's pretty much it." Clover concluded.

"Well, that's quite the history you have." Bastion noted.

"That's awesome." Jaden commented. "I mean, your childhood, your rivalry, your bond. How cool is that!?"

Everyone sweat dropped at his excitement.

"He certainly is a unique person." Clover commented.

"Yeah." Andrew replied.

"So, Clover, how are you feeling about the School Duel?" Jenny asked.

Clover smiled. "Oh, it's great! When it comes to dueling, I didn't face so many duelists during my time at North Academy. But, when I was chosen as one of the representatives, I was thrilled of the thought of a real challenge. Especially after Chancellor Foster told me who my opponent will be." She glanced at Andrew.

"Well, I can understand that after hearing about your rivalry." Shiori said.

"And what about you, Andrew? How are you feeling?"

Andrew gave his old rival a determined look. "For me, I'm more than glad for this. Because I'm about to give you a match you'll never forget."

Clover gave him a smug look. "Big talk coming from the one who lost our last duel."

"True, but I might surprise you this time."

Everyone watched this in amusement.

"They sure know how to act like rivals." Michael commented.

"That's one of the things that makes dueling interesting." Matt added.

"Got that right!" Jaden said.

Before anyone else could say anything, a voice spoke up from the loudspeakers. **"Attention. The School Duel will start in 10 minutes. Repeat. The School Duel will start in 10 minutes."**

"Guess that's our cue." Clover said as she offered Andrew a handshake. "You better prepare yourself."

Andrew smiled at her and accepted the handshake. "Don't worry, I will."

* * *

Meanwhile, Chazz sat in a different locker room, with his brothers standing across from him. They had brought him here to have a little chat with him. "You set it up, didn't you? This broadcast."

"Well of course we did." Slade said, confirming his suspicions. "We need the whole world to see you're on your way to becoming Duel Monsters' best. It's all part of the plan."

"Yeah, Yeah."

"Look," Jagger jumped in. "World domination is ours for the taking, if we all do our part, Chazz."

"And we have. Now it's your turn, bro. To conquer the world of Duel Monsters. To be the best."

"And to not give up. Did you really think you could get away from your duties? Get away from us, by dropping out of Duel Academy?"

Chazz lowered his head. "I… I…"

"Don't deny it!" Jagger yelled, raising on his feet. "You have always been the slacker of this family!"

"It doesn't matter. The point is, Chazz, you can still turn it around. You can still show that we're supreme!"

"That's right!" Jagger held up a briefcase in his hand. "And the dueling cards in this briefcase are gonna help you do just that! They're the most expensive out there, so you have no excuse to lose!" He slammed the briefcase down on the bench in front of Chazz. "Don't let us down, Chazz! Don't the the Princeton name down!It's all on you! Now go!

"And win!"

* * *

"Man if I'd known I was gonna be on TV, I would've combed my hair." Jaden said as he ran through the hallway by himself. "I might have even washed it. I probably would have even showered…"

"Man up, Chazz!"

"Huh?" Jaden stopped in his tracks when heard Chazz talking. He saw him in a bathroom, leaned over a sink, not seeing his reflection in the mirror.

"Man up!" Chazz repeated as he pounded on the mirror. "Come on! Show them that Chazz Princeton is no slacker! That you're worthy of the Princeton name!" He was on the verge of tears as he went on. "That you... you can win, and that you can keep winning!" He sunk to his knees. "Over and over. That you're the best! You've got to do your part, Chazz! You've got to show them that you're supreme! It's your duty. It's the plan!"

Jaden chose that moment to leave Chazz alone, given his emotional state.

"Now go and win! Go and win! Go and win!"

* * *

Now it's time for the School Duel to commence.

All the spectators from both Duel Academy and North Academy had now gathered in their seats at the arena. The students from Duel Academy were seated on one half around the arena, while those from North Academy seated on the other half. Everyone screamed and cheered from the top of the lungs, while a group of crane arms, each with a cameraman and another crewman, were positioned around the platform in the middle, so that they would be able to cover every angle there was. "That's it everyone, lots of energy!" One of the men with a megaphone in his hand said. "Remember, the whole world's watching you live! Now let's cheer these duelists on!"

Sheppard and Foster sat side by side, among the North Academy students. "Same bet as usual, right Sheppard?" Foster asked. "You do remember…"

"Absolutely. After all, old friend, it's what makes this all worthwhile. If at least two of my students win, then I get the prize."

"And if it's two of _my_ students, I win." The two men laughed good naturedly.

On the sidelines, Syrus and Chumley were with Jaden, Andrew and Bastion before the formal introduction. "Alright, Jaden." The smaller Slifer spoke up. "Here we go. The match against your dueling rival. Your arch nemesis. How do you feel?"

"I'm okay." He said in a not s convincing voice.

"Okay!?"

"Don't you mean sweet or something?" Chumley asked.

"What's wrong, Jaden?" Andrew asked.

"I feel good, it's just that… well, I overheard Chazz a bit earlier and…" He looked the person in question, who was standing on the other side, along with his fellow reps. "it's just too bad that one of us has to lose, you know? I'm starting to kinda understand where he's coming from. And it's not exactly an easy place."

"What do you mean, Jaden?" Bastion asked.

"According to what I heard, his brothers all sorts of pressure on him. He kept saying something being worthy the Princeton name."

The boys gasped at Jaden's explanation.

"That's just awful." Andrew said sympathetically.

"Attention students." Sheppard spoke up. "Welcome to the School Duel!"

"And now…" Foster started.

"Let this year's competition... finally begin!" They both cried.

Sheppard looked to the Obelisk Blue Headmaster. "Dr. Crowler, introduce the duelists!"

"With pleasure, Chancellor Sheppard." Crowler walked onto the platform, a microphone in his hand and a camera crew moving around the platform. "After all, there are six duelists, and four of them I know personally. And personally, I just adore them."

"Is that so?" Andrew asked while raising one eye brow.

"And for this year's competition, we'll have three duels. For the first duel, from Duel Academy…" The Obelisks, Ras and Slifers cheered loudly. "Alright, keep it down, keep it down! Introducing, Andrew Wilson!"

"You go, Andrew!" Shiori cheered. He, along with Matt, Syrus, Chumley, Michael, Zane, Alexis and Jenny were sitting together on the Duel Academy side.

"And his opponent, from North Academy, Clover Penn!" Clover stepped forward and waved with her right hand as the North Academy students cheered for her.

"And then, the second match will be, from Duel Academy, Bastion Misawa!" The Duel Academy students cheered for him.

"And his opponent, from North Academy, Xander Murphy!" The young mechanic grinned and held up the peace sign with the fingers from his right hand the NA students cheered again.

"And, the final match will be, from Duel Academy, Jaden Yuki!" The DA students cheered once again.

"Go Jay! You can do it!" Syrus cheered.

"And his opponent…"

"Get off the stage!" Crowler turned to Chazz, surprised by his interruption. "I'll introduce myself, you scrub.

"I BEG YOUR PARDON!?" Crowler screamed angrily. "Scrubs don't have PhD's in dueling! H-huh?" Before the Obelisk headmaster could continue, he noticed the microphone cord wrapped around his legs. "Although, not tying might have been a better major." Crowler jumped a few times before falling off the stage.

"Whoa, maybe you ought to go cordless next time." Jaden commented.

"Maybe _you_ just ought to be quiet!" Chazz snapped. "It's Chazz Princeton's turn now. But then, I don't really need an introduction. After all, everybody here knows who I am. Or do you? See, Chazz Princeton has changed. Sure, I used to be a classmate of yours, but when I left here, I left my old self as well. Now you're looking at the new and improved Chazz. The North Academy Chazz. And I'm here to…" He pumped his fist into the air.

"Chazz it up!" The NA students cheered.

"That's right! Say it again!"

"Chazz it up! Chazz it up! Chazz it up!"

"Wow." Syrus said. "It's almost like they really... like Chazz."

"That's hard to believe." Matt commented.

Once the cheers ceased, Chazz walked back and turned to Clover. "Listen Redhead, you better not lose, got it?" He said in a rude tone.

Clover scowled. "Get over yourself." She said before heading to the platform.

"Good luck, Andrew." Jaden said.

"Thanks."

"But you better be careful. From what you told us, Clover is a formidable opponent." Bastion said.

"I know. There's no doubt that she have improved after those two years. But then, so did I." At that Andrew stepped onto the platform while his friends joined the spectators.

Once Clover got onto the platform, she gave Andrew a smile. "Well, Andrew? Are you ready for this?"

"Does this answer your question?" He asked as he activated his duel disk.

"In that case…" Clover activated her duel disk as well.

"LET'S DUEL!"

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Clover: 4000**

"Visitors first!" Clover drew her sixth card. "And I'll start with this: Axe Dragonute in attack mode!" The monster that appeared was a dragon in a black armor with wings and a big axe in its hands. ( **ATK: 2000** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Then I'll end my turn with a facedown." A card appeared behind the dragon.

"Then here goes." Andrew drew his sixth. "I summon Elemental HERO Stratos!" The turbine winged hero appeared from a whirlwind. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 300 LV: 4) "And next I'll activate his special ability. After he's summoned, I can take a HERO monster from my deck and add it to my hand. I choose Shadow Mist." He took the name card from his deck and then took another card from his hand. "Then I'll play Polymerization and fuse her and Stratos in order to create Elemental HERO Great Tornado." The two heroes jumped into a fusion vortex. After that, the green, black and yellow armored hero of the Wind emerged. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 2200 LV: 8)

"Wow! Is that the hero you guys mentioned?" Jaden asked as he stared at the monster in awe.

"Yup, the same one he used against Lily." Shiori replied.

"Great Tornado, activate your special ability! Downburst!" Andrew commanded as the fusion hero removed his cape and created a fierce tornado that surrounded Clover's dragon. She watched as it roared in agony. And then… ( **ATK: 2000-1000** DEF: 1200-600)

"What the…!?" She exclaimed.

"When Great Tornado is fusion summoned, he cuts your monster's attack and defense points in half." Andrew explained. "But that's not all, because by sending Shadow Mist to the graveyard, I can activate her special ability. I can take a HERO monster from my deck and add it to my hand. And I think Ocean is just the card I need." He took the named card from his deck and placed it in his hand. "And now, battle time! Great Tornado, attack! Super Cell!" The yellow parts of the hero's armor brightly, and a whirlwind started to take form around Clover's dragon.

"I activate my trap…." Her facedown card flipped up. "Sakuretsu Armor! With this I can destroy your attacking monster."

Andrew smirked. "Not so fast, Clover! I activate a spell card…" He took another card from his hand. "Mask Change! This lets me send a HERO monster I control to the graveyard and summon a Masked HERO from my fusion deck with the same attribute."

"Wow! The duel just started and Andrew is already going to summon a Masked HERO." Jaden said.

"And by using Great Tornado to do so, Clover's trap card will lose its target." Bastion added.

"She better brace herself." Michael commented.

"Now say goodbye to Great Tornado…" The wind hero disappeared. "And hello to Masked HERO Divine Wind." And then, the emerald-green armored hero rose up on the field. ( **ATK: 2700** DEF: 1900 LV: 8)

Clover had to admit that she was amazed by Andrew's new monster. "Whoa! I see you've got some new tricks up your sleeve."

Andrew smiled. "If you like this, just wait until Divine Wind makes your dragon disappear. Go, Storming Justice!" The hero glowed and the axe wielding dragon was surrounded by a tornado. It roared in pain before it exploded.

 **Clover: 4000-2300**

"Nice!" Matt cheered.

"Impressive." Zane said. "At first it looked like Andrew was using his cards without thinking clear, but he proved to know better than that."

"That's Andrew for ya." Jenny added.

"And now I activate Divine Wind's special ability. After he destroys a monster in battle, I'm allowed to draw one card from my deck." Andrew drew a card. "And with that, I'm done. How do you like that?"

"You have gotten stronger than ever." Clover noted. "Let's see how long you can keep the advantage." She drew her next card. "I summon Warrior Lady of the Wasteland in defense mode." The blonde woman with her tattered cape appeared on the field, kneeling down. (ATK: 1100 **DEF: 1200** LV: 4) "Then I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." A card appeared behind the warrior.

"My move." Andrew drew his next card. "I summon Elemental HERO Ocean in attack mode." The aquatic hero rose up on the field. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Now attack her Warrior Lady! Big Wave Crush!" The water hero dashed forward and stabbed the woman with his trident, making her explode.

"I activate my Warrior Lady's special ability! When she's destroyed in battle, I can summon an earth, warrior type monster with 1500 attack points or less. Now come on out, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian!" The green armored elven warrior appeared with his sword in his hands. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 1200 LV: 4)

"Now, Divine Wind, attack her Celtic Guardian!" The masked hero unleashed another tornado that sped towards Clover's monster.

"I activate my trap…!" Her facedown card flipped up. "Defense Draw! This lets me reduce the battle damage from your attack to zero and draw one card from my deck." While Clover drew her extra card, the elven warrior stabbed his sword into the ground and held onto it with all his might, keeping himself from getting blown away. The tornado died down after a moment. "And also, due to his special ability, my Celtic Guardian can't be destroyed by a monster with 1900 or more attack points."

"Aw man." Syrus moaned.

"That wasn't too bad." Shiori admitted.

"Yeah, that defense was pretty good." Jenny added.

"But she's going to need more than good defense to defeat Andrew." Matt said.

"I end my turn." Andrew concluded.

"Then here goes!" Clover drew a card and looked at it. She smiled. "Hey Andrew, I think you recognize this card. Elemental HERO Wildheart!" The muscular tribal hero appeared in front of her. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1600 LV: 4)

Andrew smiled at that. "Good to see that you kept the card I gave you."

"Why wouldn't I? It is a reminder of you. But back to the duel. I activate the spell, Magnum Shield, and I'll equip this card to Wildheart." A shield in very dark-red and gold appeared on the hero's left arm. It had one spike at each of its four corners. "Here's how it works, depending on my warrior type monster's battle mode, one of the shield's effects are active. And since Wildheart is in attack mode, my shield gives him attack points equal to his original defense points."

"My word! With 1600 defense points, her Wildheart is going to be statically much stronger than Divine Wind." Bastion said.

"Not lishus." Chumley said.

The shield gave off a golden aura that surrounded Wildheart. ( **ATK: 1500-3100** )

"And now for my next move. I sacrifice my Obnoxious Celtic Guardian in order to summon Turret Warrior!" The elven warrior disappeared as a bigger monster rose in his place. It looked more like a rock than a warrior with thick limbs made of bricks. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 2000 LV: 5)

"Huh?" Andrew looked at it confused. And Clover noticed his confusion.

"Yeah yeah, I know. Not many attack points. But my new warrior has a special ability. I can special summon him by sacrificing a warrior type monster, and if I do that, then he'll absorb all of that monster's original attack points." The giant monster glowed with a blue aura. ( **ATK: 1200-2600** )

"Whoa! That monster's attack strength is as big as himself." Jaden commented.

"And that doesn't bode well for Andrew." Michael added.

"Turret Warrior, attack! Destroy his Ocean!" The rock-like monster raised its right arm and smashed the aquatic hero.

 **Andrew: 4000-2900**

"And now I'll attack with Wildheart. Now go!" Clover waited for the tribal hero to strike, but to her confusion, he was just standing there. "Huh? What are you waiting for? Attack!"

Andrew smirked. "He can't do anything. My Divine Wind has another ability. As long as he remains on the field, you can only attack with one monster per turn."

"Seriously!?" Clover exclaimed.

Sheppard smiled. "Well Foster? How do you like that?"

Foster just smirked. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Sheppard. This is just the beginning."

"Alright. I end my turn." Clover concluded.

"Okay." Andrew drew. "I play a monster in defense mode." A facedown card appeared next to the wind hero. "And now I'll attack with Divine Wind. Storming Justice!" The masked hero created another tornado that easily destroyed Turret Warrior.

 **Clover: 2300-2200**

"And with another monster destroyed, Divine Wind lets me draw another card. And that ends my turn." He said after drawing a card.

"Not bad, Andrew." Clover drew a card. "But now it's time to say goodbye to your masked hero. Wildheart, attack!" The tribal hero dashed forward and and struck his opponent with his sword.

 **Andrew: 2900-2500**

But to her surprise, Divine Wind was unharmed. "What? He wasn't destroyed?"

Andrew smirked. "Nope, and that's because he has one more ability. He can't be destroyed in battle."

Clover looked at him disbelieved. "You're joking, right?"

"Not at all."

Clover shook her head. "You really have become better than before." She inserted three cards into her duel disk. "I place two cards facedown and activate the spell card Mirage of Nightmare. And that's all."

"Mirage of Nightmare?" Jaden repeated.

"Yes, and after seeing how you used that card, I have a good theory of what one of her facedown cards can be." Bastion replied.

"My move." Andrew drew.

"And this is when my Mirage card kicks in. During your standby phase, I get to draw until I have four cards in my hand." Clover drew her extra cards. "And then I'll play Emergency Provisions." One her facedown cards flipped up.

"Just as I thought." Bastion said.

"What do you know, it is the same." Jaden commented.

"I can't say I'm surprised. You and Clover aren't the first ones who ever used that combo." Alexis said.

"Now, by sending one spell or trap card to my graveyard, like Mirage, I gain 1000 life points." At that, the continuous spell disappeared.

 **Clover: 2200-3200**

"That's fine. As for me, I'm gonna summon Elemental HERO Lady Heat in defense mode." The white and orange clad female hero appeared form a pillar of fire. (ATK: 1300 **DEF: 1000** LV: 4) "Then I'll switch Divine Wind to defense mode." The wind hero crossed his arms and kneeled down. "Then I'll activate Lady Heat's ability. You take 200 points of damage for every Elemental HERO I have." The female hero conjured a fireball and threw it at Clover.

 **Clover: 3200-3000**

Clover recovered from the blast before she spoke up. "Then here goes." She drew a card and looked at it. She widened her eyes. _'That card.'_

* * *

 **Flashback**

Clover found herself inside Foster's office. For some reason, she was called here. "Can I help you, Chancellor?" She asked.

Foster, who sat on his chair, smiled. "Well, I just called you here for some good news. You see, after watching your duels, I've decided that you shall become one of our schools reps."

Clover was surprised. "For real?"

"Yes, and it would be good if North Academy win this year, so therefore, I'm gonna offer you this." Foster reached into one of his drawers and picked out some duel monster cards.

Clover took the cards and looked at them. Her eyes widened.

"These are some of North Academy's top dueling cards. With them, you have a greater chance to win. Of course, I know your deck is very strong without them, but it couldn't hurt."

"Umm." Clover seemed to be unsure.

"Perhaps you need some time to think about it. Don't worry, I won't force you."

"Thank you."

 **Flashback end**

* * *

 _'It took me a while, but then I've decided to have this card in my deck, just to test it out. Alright, let's give it a test.'_ Clover looked up with a determined look. "I summon Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 4!" A burst of black flames appeared, from which a metallic, bird-like creature stepped out. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1000 LV: 4)

"Uh, level?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah, and if that monster is used correctly, Clover can make it even stronger." Jenny said.

"But how did she even get such a rare card?" Shiori wondered.

Sheppard was obviously surprised by the appearance of Clover's new monster. "Why, isn't that one of your school's top cards? Foster, you didn't!" He turned to the NA Chancellor who chuckled.

"I did what I had to do. That dragon is only one of our school's best cards. I told you Sheppard, I want that prize. And I'm going to get it."

"Oh yeah? Not if I have anything to say about it! Come on, Andrew! You can do it!"

"Um, okay?" Andrew said, almost weirded out by this. He then turned to Clover. "So, what can that monster do?"

"You'll see. But first I'm gonna play a spell card, Sword of Dragon's Soul." The tribal hero's sword transformed into a slightly smaller one with spikes growing out from the edges of the blade. "This card gives my warrior type monster 700 more attack points. So my Wildheart gets even stronger." ( **ATK: 3100-3800** ) "And now I activate the trap DNA Surgery." Her facedown card flipped up.

"No way!" Andrew gasped.

"That's right. I can now turn all monsters on the field to any type I choose. And I choose dragon type." At that, Andrew's hero monster began to transform. Lady Heat's face had now orange dragon scales and a pair of dragon wings appeared from her back, along with a tail. As for Divine Wind, his mask had now a dragon like face, and just like Lady heat, he had a tail that appeared. Finally, his white cape transformed into a pair of white dragon wings.

"Why would she turn all monsters on the field to dragons?" Chumley asked.

"That would be to put the new sword to use." Bastion replied.

"But why?" Syrus asked.

"Just wait and see." Zane said.

"Alright Wildheart, attack his Divine Wind!"

Many people were confused by Clover's command.

"But why? Divine Wind can't be destroyed." Jaden pointed out.

"Dont be so sure. Just watch." Matt said.

Wildheart dashed forward and slashed the masked hero with his sword, but the result was the same as earlier.

"I don't get it. This is just like…"

"Wait for it." Michael interrupted Jaden.

"Now the effect of my sword activates." Clover spoke up. "Since the equipped monster battled a dragon type monster, that monster is destroyed at the end of the battle phase."

Andrew gasped as cracks appeared on the masked hero's armor before he exploded. "My Divine Wind…"

"Is gone." Clover filled in. "But since that happened at the end of my battle phase, I can't attack anymore. So I'll end my turn with a facedown." A card appeared behind Wildheart.

"Looks like Andrew is facing a dragon slayer now." Alexis commented.

"Yeah, but why is Wildheart the only one who didn't become a dragon?" Syrus asked.

"Because he's immune to trap cards, remember?" Jaden reminded him.

"I draw." Andrew drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman." The red armored and fiery headed hero appeared. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1800 LV: 4)

"Don't forget, he becomes a dragon, thanks to my DNA card." Clover reminded him as the hero transformed into a winged, four-legged dragon with red armor and a mane made of fire.

"Maybe, but with this monster summoned to the field, I can take a Polymerization from my deck and add it to my hand." He took the named card from his deck. "And now I'll use it to combine Blazeman and Poison Rose to form Elemental HERO Gaia!" The fire merged with the flower woman and rose up as the black armored giant. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF: 2600 LV: 6) And then, because of Clover's trap card, the giant transform into a wingless, four-legged dragon with the front legs being bulkier than the back legs and red spheres on the sides of its body and one on its forehead. "And since Gaia was fusion summoned, he can absorb half the attack strength from one of your monsters. And I choose Wildheart." The dragon opened his mouth and inhaled deeply, causing yellow energy leaving Wildheart's body and enter its mouth. ( **ATK: 3800-1900** ) ( **ATK: 2200-4100** )

"Impressive." Clover said. "But you do realize that my sword will destroy your hero, even after my monster is destroyed, right?"

"True, but I'll take my chance. Gaia, attack now!" The dragon ran toward the tribal hero.

"I activate Negate Attack!" Clover's trap card flipped up and created a barrier that blocked the attack. "Thanks to this, your attack is cancelled."

"Great. Now she's going to destroy Gaia on her next turn." Shiori said.

"Not good." Michael added.

Andrew inserted a card into his duel disk. "I place a card facedown and let my Lady Heat damage your life points." The fire heroine threw another fireball at Clover.

 **Clover: 3000-2600** ( **ATK: 4100-2200** ) ( **ATK: 1900-3800** )

"Alright then." Clover drew. "I summon Lancer Lindwurm." A green, bipedal dragon appeared, clad in bronze armor holding a purple and crystal spear within its hands. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Now attack his Lady Heat!" The dragon took flight and prepared and stabbed Lady Heat with its spear, making her explode. And then...

 **Andrew: 2500-1700**

"Huh?"

"Confused?" Clover asked. "My Lancer has a special ability. It can cause piercing damage."

"That is a little troublesome." Andrew commented.

"That's nothing compared to what Wildheart's gonna do to your Gaia." On cue, the tribal hero dashed forward and sliced the hero/dragon's neck with his sword.

 **Andrew: 1700-0100**

"And that leaves your facedown monster. Let's see if Horus the Black Flame Dragon can destroy it!" THe metallic dragon reared its head back and spat out a torrent of black flames, making the facedown card flip up. And then, it revealed a zombie-like girl that looked familiar to Clover. (ATK: 1400 **DEF: 1500** LV: 4) "Zombina." She said as the monster was burned to ashes.

"That's right. The card you gave me. And you probably remember her special ability. I can summon a level 4 or below monster from my graveyard. And I'll resurrect my Ocean." The aquatic hero rose on the field again. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) And then, he transformed into a dragon with a pair of wings and a tail with a fin on the tip.

"Not bad." Clover complimented before inserting a card into her duel disk. "I end my turn with a facedown, which allows me to activate my Horus' ability. Since he destroyed a monster in battle, he evolves into Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 6." The dragon was now engulfed by black flames. And then, after a moment, it rose up in a more impressive form than its original form. ( **ATK: 2300** DEF: 1600 LV: 6)

"Aw man. Now it became stronger." Syrus said.

"Yes, and if Andrew can't get rid of it, it will eventually become even more powerful." Bastion added.

"Andrew can handle it. I know it." Jenny said optimistic.

"My move." Andrew drew. "And I'll start by using my Ocean's ability. I can take a HERO monster from my field or graveyard and add it to my hand. And I'll take back Stratos." He took then named card from his graveyard slot. "Next I summon Elemental HERO Woodsman in defense mode." The green-skinned wooden man kneeled down in front of him. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4) And of course, he transformed into a green-scaled dragon with wings made of wood, just like his lower body.

"And now I activate the spell card HERO's Bond. With a hero on my field, I can summon 2 level 4 or lower Elemental heroes from my hand, like Stratos and Heat." The turbine winged hero, along with the white and red armored hero appeared. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 300 LV: 4) ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And now I activate Stratos' ability. For every other HERO monster I control, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field. So with three heroes by his side, I can destroy your two equip spells and DNA Surgery." The wind hero created a cyclone, thanks to his wings and blew away the trap card, along with Wildheart's weapons. ( **ATK: 3800-1500** ) And with that done, every monster that turned into a dragon returned to normal.

"No way!" Clover gasped.

"I'm afraid it's true. Your Wildheart is defenseless. And it gets worse. My Heat gains 200 attack points for every Elemental HERO on my field, and I count 4." ( **ATK: 1600-2400** ) "And now I'll equip Ocean with the spell card Fusion Sword Murasame Blade." The water hero's trident glowed brightly and was then replaced by dark katana which burned with a chaotic aura. "Thanks to this new weapon, he gains 800 attack points." ( **ATK: 1500-2300** ) "Now Ocean, destroy her Lancer Dragonute!" The aquatic hero slashed down on the spear wielding dragon.

 **Clover: 2600-2100**

"Stratos, your turn!" The turbine winged hero flew over to Wildheart and punched him hard, making him explode.

 **Clover: 2100-1800**

"And now Heat, destroy the Black Flame Dragon." The fire hero ignited his right fist and smashed the dragon hard enough to make it explode.

 **Clover: 1800-1700**

"I end my turn."

"Yes! He managed to get rid her monsters." Jenny said.

"Not to mention that DNA card." Alexis added.

"But Clover has a facedown card on her field." Zane noted. "And I have a feeling that she's going to turn things around with it."

"Then let's hope that Andrew can handle it." Michael said.

"My move!" Clover drew. "And I play Call of the Haunted!" Her facedown card flipped up. "Now I can bring back a monster from my graveyard, like Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 6." The dragon returned to the field in its second, more powerful form. ( **ATK: 2300** DEF: 1600 LV: 6)

"Not good." Jaden said.

"Tell me about it." Shiori replied. "With only 100 life points left, Andrew can't survive an attack from that dragon."

"Come on." Jenny muttered worriedly.

"Alright Andrew, brace yourself! Horus, attack his Stratos with Black Flame Burst!" The dragon spat a torrent black fire that went toward the water hero.

"Andrew!" His friends called out.

"I activate my trap…" His facedown card flipped up. "Elemental Recharge! This card gives me 1000 life points for every Elemental HERO on my field and with 4 heroes, I gain 4000 points."

 **Andrew: 0100-4100**

And after that, the turbine winged hero was enveloped in flames, burned to ashes.

 **Andrew: 4100-3600** ( **ATK: 2400-2200** )

Andrew's friends, minus Zane, sighed in relief.

"That was close." Matt said.

"Yeah, too close." Syrus added.

"It's not over yet." Zane said. "In fact, it's about to get worse."

"That's right." Clover said. "Because now I can activate my dragon's ability. At the end of the turn, after destroying a monster in battle, my LV 6 dragon evolves into Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 8." Horus was now enveloped in a mass of black flames, which grew bigger. And then, a roar burst out from the flames once they stopped growing, causing them to fan out, revealing the dragon's new form. It was now very big, with arms and and legs with claws and a pair of wings on its back. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 1800 LV: 8) The NA students let out a roar of cheers after its appearance.

"Uh oh. Andrew's in trouble now." Jaden commented.

"You don't know half of it." Michael grimaced. "Trust me. That form is extremely dangerous against Andrew's deck."

"What do you mean?" Chumley asked.

"Just watch."

"I draw." Andrew declared. "And I activate Woodsman's ability. I can add a Polymerization to my hand from my deck or graveyard." The card came out of the graveyard slot and he picked it up. "And now it's time to fuse my monsters!" He said as the image of the spell card appeared.

But before Andrew could fuse his monsters, Clover smirked and spoke up. "I activate Horus' special ability. As long as he's on the field, I can negate the activation of a spell card and destroy it."

"What!?" Andrew exclaimed as the spell card was destroyed by a pillar of black flames.

"But if she can negate Andrew's spell cards…" Syrus said.

"Then he can't fuse his monsters." Bastion filled in. "He can't even summon his Masked heroes."

"This isn't the first time he's been in that kind of situation." Jenny replied with a determined look on her face. "He can still win."

"But the question is how." Alexis said.

Andrew looked at his hand worriedly. _'Damn. With Clover's dragon on the field, I can't use my spell cards. This won't be easy.'_  
"I switch Heat and Ocean to defense mode and end my turn." The heroes kneeled down.

"Not much you can do, with Horus on my field." Clover commented.

"This isn't over, Clover." Andrew retorted. "I won't lose that easily."

"Then let's how you do after this." Clover drew a card. "Horus, destroy his Woodsman with Black Mega Flame!" The dragon spat a torrent of flames that destroyed the green-skinned hero. ( **ATK: 2200-2000** ) "And that ends my turn."

"I draw." Andrew glanced at the card he drew an inserted it into his duel disk. "I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Alright then…" Clover glanced at the card she drew before making her move. "Horus, attack again!" The dragon spat another torrent of flames.

"I play my trap…!" Andrew's facedown card flipped up. "Mirror Force!"

"No!" Clover gasped.

"Sorry Clover, but thanks to my trap card, you monster is destroyed." The flames were absorbed into the trap card. And then, it sent them right back to the dragon, making it cry out in pain by the hit before it was destroyed.

"Alright!" Shiori cheered.

"You go, Andrew!" Jenny called out

"Sweet!" Jaden said.

"I place two cards facedown and end my turn." Clover concluded while inserting two cards into her duel disk.

"Alright then…" Andrew drew. "I switch Heat to attack mode." The fire hero stood up. "Now attack with Burning Fist!" The hero dashed forward and ignited his right fist.

"You go, Andrew!" Shiori cheered.

"You got her now!" Matt added.

"Not quite!" Clover countered. "I activate Level Bond!" One of her facedowns flipped up.

"What?" Andrew let out.

"This card lets you draw two cards, and I get to summon a LV monster directly from my graveyard. And I'll bring Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 8!" The giant dragon roared as it reappeared from a pillar of black flames. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 1800 LV: 8)

The DA students gasped while the NA students cheered.

Andrew frowned. "Damn." He then drew his two extra cards. He looked at them and internally groaned. _'Ohh, most of these cards are spells, and they are useless with that dragon on the field.'_ He then looked up. "Fine, I'll end my turn."

"My move." Clover drew. "Horus, attack Ocean!" The dragon reared its head back while Andrew looked at her confused.

"And you're attacking the defending hero instead of the one in attack mode because…?"

"Because I have this trap card…" Her facedown card flipped up. "Dragon's Rage. Here's how it works, when my dragon type monster attacks a monster in defense mode, you take damage equal to the difference between its attack points and your monster's defense points."

That caused Andrew and his friends to gasp.

"Great Scott! With that trap card and the Black Flame Dragon on the field, Andrew is certainly in a dire situation." Bastion said.

"You sure know how to say positive things." Michael said sarcastically.

"Come on." Jenny muttered worriedly.

The dragon spat another torrent of flames which easily destroyed Ocean and surrounded a grunting Andrew in the process.

 **Andrew: 3600-1800** ( **ATK: 2000-1800** )

"Whoohoo!" Clover cheered. "And that's all for now."

"Not good." Jaden said.

"Come on, Andrew! Fight back!" Shiori called out.

Andrew recovered from the attack and drew a card. "I'm trying." He looked at the card he drew.

"Well Andrew? Are you ready to give up?" Clover asked.

"Not by a long shot. I won't stand down until the last life points expires."

His response made her smile. _'It's been a long time since I've heard you say_ _that.'_

"I summon Elemental HERO Ice Edge!" The icy kid with spiky armor appeared. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 900 LV: 3) ( **ATK: 1800-2000** ) "Then I'll activate his special ability. By discarding one card from my hand, I can let him bypass your monster and attack you directly." He slid a card into his graveyard slot. "Now Ice Edge, attack with Subzero Punch!" THe kid dashed towards Clover and punched her with a fist surrounded by ice-cold air.

 **Clover: 1700-0900**

"And with that, I end my turn."

"That's it?" Matt asked. "Couldn't he place a facedown card?"

"Unless he has more than spell cards, that won't help him at all." Zane said.

"So he's just attacking out desperation?" Syrus asked.

"Nah, I don't think so." Jaden said confidently. "No way Andrew's gonna lose just like that?"

"I hope you're right." Shiori said while Michael nodded.

Clover smirked as she drew a card. "Well, this duel was fun. But it looks like I'm about to defeat you, again."

Andrew seemed to be calm. "Then what are you waiting for?"

"Now Horus, end this duel!" Once again, the dragon spat a torrent of flames that went straight toward Ice Edge.

"Andrew!" Jenny called out.

Andrew's field was now enveloped in black flames.

"Game over." Clover said triumphantly.

But, when the flames died down, she was shocked to see Andrew, along with his monsters, being surrounded by an electric barrier.

"Not yet."

"What!? What is this?"

Andrew held up a card with the picture of a certain turtle creature. "Thanks to Ice Edge, I discarded Electromagnetic Turtle. And by removing it from my grave, I stopped your attack by ending the battle phase."

"Lishus!" Chumley said.

"My, looks like Andrew saved himself." Bastion said.

"For now." Alexis replied. "But he can't keep defending himself.

"He got this." Jaden said.

"You really know how to keep yourself in the game, don't you?" Clover asked.

"I do what I can." Andrew replied with a smile.

"But don't get ahead of yourself. I summon Golem Dragon in defense mode." A large rock armored dragon appeared next to Horus, laying on the floor with its claws in front of its face. (ATK: 200 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4) "I end my turn."

"Alright then." Andrew drew a card and looked at it, before he inserted it into his duel disk. "First I'll place one card facedown. Then I'll discard another card so Ice Edge can attack you directly." He slid another card into the graveyard. "Now attack!" The icy kid struck Clover with another ice-cold punch.

 **Clover:** **0900-0100**

"I end my turn."

"I draw!" Clover declared. "Now let's try this again. Horus, attack!" The dragon spat yet another stream of flames.

"Activate trap…" Andrew's facedown card flipped up. "Blast with Chain! I can add this card to a monster and give it 500 attack points." The card released an aura that surrounded Ice Edge. ( **ATK: 800-1300** ) But it didn't take long before he was enveloped in black flames.

 **Andrew: 1800-0100** ( **ATK: 2000-1800** )

"I place one card facedown and end my turn."

"Whoa! Now they're even in points." Jaden noted.

"But clearly, Clover has the upper hand." Bastion replied. "Her dragon keeps him from using spell cards, and that Golem Dragon has the power to protect other dragon type monster from attacks. I say Andrew is about to be out of options."

"Don't say that!" Jenny retorted. "There's still a chance he can win."

"Yeah, he'll pull this one out." Michael added.

Clover however, was very sure that she's going to win. _Well, this duel was tough, but I doubt that Andrew can turn this around.'_ She then glanced at her facedown card. _'Because even he finds a way to get around my monsters, I got a surprise for him.'_

As for Andrew, he looked nervous. _'Man, now I'm really cornered. Obviously, Clover haven't lost her touch.'_ He then took a deep breath and formed a determined expression. _'But I won't go down without a fight.'_ He then placed his hand on his deck. _'Here goes!"_ He drew his next card and paused for a moment, making everyone wait for his next move. And finally, Andrew looked at the card he drew. And then… _'That's...'_ He widened his eyes before he smiled.

Clover noticed this. "Huh?"

"This is it, Clover! Time put an end to this!" Andrew placed his card on his duel disk. "Come forth, Doomcaliber Knight!" A certain, fiendish knight riding on a black steed appeared. ( **ATK: 1900** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "And now I activate Enemy Controller!" He held up a spell card. "With its effect, I'll force your Golem Dragon to attack mode."

Andrew's friends gasped while Clover smirked.

"When will you learn? My Horus makes all your spells useless, remember?" On cue, the dragon reared back its head, preparing for another fiery assault.

But Andrew smirked. "That's why I summoned my knight." The monster released a purple aura before it disappeared. And then, the same aura surrounded the dragon.

Clover gasped. "What's happening?"

"This is Doomcaliber Knight's ability. When a monster effect is activated, he's automatically sacrificed. After that, he negates the monster's special ability and destroys it." At that, the dragon exploded.

"Oh no!"

"I'm afraid it's true. Now your Golem Dragon is next." The named card rose up due to Andrew's spell card. "Now, destroy her dragon!" The hero dashed forward.

"I activate Nightmare Wheel!" As soon as Clover's trap card flipped up, the fire hero stopped. "This card keeps your monster from attacking, and once we have come to my standby phase, you'll take 500 points of damage." Clover explained with a smirk. But that smirk disappeared when Andrew held up another card.

"That can be fixed by Mask Change II. BY discarding one card from my hand, I can change my monster into a Masked HERO." Clover gasped as he discard a card, making his fire hero glow. "Say hello to Masked HERO Goka!" The glowing died down and revealed the masked hero in red and black armor. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF: DEF: 1800 LV: 6) "This monster gains 100 attack points for every HERO monster in my graveyard, I've got twelve. Not that it really matters though." ( **ATK: 2200-3400** )

Clover stepped back in shock.

"Now attack, Inferno Kick!" THe hero ignited his right foot and leaped into the air before landing a kick on the dragon, causing an explosion that knocked Clover down.

 **Clover 0100-0000**

The DA students cheered loudly as he won the match.

"He did it!" Matt cheered.

"Yeah, he won!" Shiori added.

"Of course he did." Michael said with a grin.

Jenny smiled proudly. "Well done."

* * *

In the Wilson residence, Andrew's parents saw everything the TV showed and were obviously overjoyed.

"Well done, Andrew." George said.

"I'm so proud." Marie added.

* * *

In the Mihaylov residence, Andrew's uncle and aunt were the same. But they weren't as delighted as his cousin.

"WHOOHOO!" Angie cheered.

* * *

As for Peter, who watched this on the giant screen in the big city, all he did was form a proud smile on his face.

"That was an impressive comeback your cousin performed." A feminine voice said from his right. Peter turned to see a young woman around his age. She had long, orange hair with red highlights that reached the middle of her back. She had alluring violet eyes. She was wearing a red t-shirt that showed off her midriff, a pair of jeans and white sandals.

"Yeah, it was." Peter replied.

"So, you think he can surpass you?" The woman asked.

Peter turned back to the screen. "Only time will tell."

* * *

Back at the academy. The DA students were still cheering while the NA students moaned in disappointment.

As Clover was sitting on the floor, Andrew approached her and held out his hand. "That was a great duel, Clover. You almost got me there." He said with a smile.

Clover smiled back and his hand, allowing her to help her up. "Thanks. I must say, I never saw that coming. You're definitely much better than before."

"Thanks."

She then pointed a finger at him with a determined look. "But, don't think this is over. Next time we face off, I'll get you."

Andrew mirrored her expression. "You're welcome to try."

"Ahem." Corwler spoke in the microphone. "And the winner of our first match is, Andrew Wilson. Congratulations. Now, please clear the stage for the next match."

Andrew and Clover walked off the stage and went to their seats as the former was approached by Jaden and Bastion.

"Sweet duel, Andrew!"

"Indeed. That was remarkable."

"Thanks guys." Andrew then turned to Bastion. "So, are you ready for your match."

The intelligent Ra nodded. "With the deck I have prepared, I'm more than ready."

"Good luck then." At that, Andrew and Jaden went to their seats while Bastion was slowly walking to the stage, and so did his opponent, Xander.

* * *

 **Okay, once again, a chapter longer than planned. But I hope it was worth the wait. Until next time.**


	33. Chapter 33

**The School Duel: Part 2 - The Genius VS The Mechanic**

As the next duel was about to begin, Andrew, along with Jaden, walked up to the audience to sit with their friends.

"Nicely played, Andrew." Shiori praised.

"You really pulled it off." Michael added.

"Thanks." Andrew replied. "But it wasn't easy."

"I know." Matt replied. "No wonder Clover is such a strong rival to you."

"Why thank you." A female voice spoke up behind Andrew and Jaden. They turned around to see who it was.

"Clover?" Andrew widened his eyes.

"Um, aren't you supposed to be on the North Academy side?" Jaden asked.

Clover let out a sigh. "Maybe, but sitting along with them is not exactly a walk in the park for me."

"And why is that?" Syrus asked.

"Well, believe it or not, I'm the only female student from the North Academy, and because of that, many of them had constantly asked me out for a date...

* * *

 **Flashback**

At the North Academy, Clover walked around campus with a duel disk strapped on her arm, trying to find someone to duel. Eventually, she came across a boy with black hair in a style that made him look like Elvis. He was wearing a dark-brown jacket and a pair of black pants.

"Hey, you." Clover called out. "I wish to duel you. Would you mind taking me on?"

The Elvis haired boy gave her a smirk and walked up to her. "Sure, I don't mind. If…" He leaned closer to her. "you agree to go out on a date with me."

Clover's left eye twitched at those words. "Is that so? Then I guess I won't duel you." She was about to leave, but was stopped by the boy who wrapped an arm around her, making her more annoyed.

"Come on, baby. I promise that you're going to enjoy it. Every last moment of...

POW!

His sentence was interrupted when Clover gave him an uppercut, sending him at least 5 meters away. Once he landed on the ground, she sighed heavily.

"Geez, how disturbing."

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"I'm telling you, that's really annoying." Clover finished.

Alexis and Jenny looked at each other after hearing the explanation before turning to her. "Yeah, we can sorta relate to that." The former said as the latter nodded.

So, if you don't mind…" Clover said.

"Sure, no problem." Jaden said with a grin. "Andrew's friends are our friends."

"Thanks." At that, they all took seat, with Clover sitting right next to Andrew.

"So, now it's Bastion against Xander." Shiori said.

"Yeah, I'm especially curious about what kind of deck he planned for this." Matt replied.

"That's hard to tell, especially since he got six decks. Or seven if you include the one he used against Jaden." Michael added.

"What? That many?" Clover asked.

"Yeah, Bastion's a scientific duelist who's alternating between six different decks. One for each attribute." Andrew explained.

"Hm, interesting variety. But what about the seventh deck?"

"Well, from what I could tell when he used it, it was based off his water deck, only it was specifically designed to counter Jaden's deck."

"I see."

"But now we're about to see what he planned for this match." Alexis said.

"Well, I wouldn't underestimate Xander if I were you." Clover replied. "He's pretty strong."

Back on the arena, Bastion and Xander faced each other in the center.

"Well Xander, I hope you're ready." Bastion said as he opened up his Ra jacket, revealing his six deck cases. "Because I'm prepared."

Xander whistled at the sight. "Talk about dueling with style."

"This is just something to carry my different dueling decks with. A good duelist is always prepared." Bastion responded as he took out one of his decks and inserted it into his duel disk.

"Can't argue with that." Xander said as he picked up his steampunk themed duel disk.

Bastion looked at it with interest. "My, that's an interesting duel disk you got there."

Xander smiled and held it up. "Oh, this thing? That's just something I built myself."

"Is that so?"

"It sure is. As you know, I grew up in my family's mechanic workshop and learned how to build and take machines apart...

* * *

 **Flashback**

Xander was sitting all alone at at table. He was inside a big room, full of tables with many things. Specifically, many different machine parts, tools, blueprints, stuff like that. On the table he was sitting at, Xander had his duel disk he was tinkering with. Once he was done, he strapped it on his arm and activated it. He then drew a card from his deck and placed it on his duel disk, making Green Gadget appear. A satisfied smile formed on Xander's face.

 _"And that's the good thing about it. You'll learn how you can improve and modify machines. So with_ _everything I've learned, it took me some modifications..._

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"…and now I have a duel disk of my own design." He finished as he held it up.

Bastion smiled and nodded. "Well, that's impressive. But tell me something... are your dueling skills as good as your mechanic talents?"

Xander smirked. "Why don't you find out?" He then activated his duel disk.

And so did Bastion.

"Let's duel!"

 **Bastion: 4000**

 **Xander: 4000**

"I'll go first." Xander drew his sixth card. "And I'll start with Red Gadget in defense mode." The red robot with the gadget on its back appeared with its arms crossed. (ATK: 1300 **DEF: 1500** LV: 4) "With this monster summoned to the field, I can add a Yellow Gadget to my hand from my deck." Xander went through his deck until he found the card he wanted, and placed it in his hand. "Then I'll place two cards and end my turn." Xander concluded as two cards appeared behind the red robot.

"Very well." Bastion drew his sixth card. "And I summon Des Mosquito in attack mode." A large gray mosquito with a stinger and holding a strange double ended spear buzzed as it landed on his field. ( **ATK: 500** DEF: 500 LV: 3) "When this monster is normal or special summoned, it gains 2 counters and 500 attack points for each." Both ends of the mosquito's spear glowed. ( **ATK: 500-1500** ) "And then I activate a field spell card, Mystic Plasma Zone." After placing the card in the field spell tray, dark clouds appeared above them. "This gives all dark attribute monsters 500 attack points while lowering their defense points by 400." ( **ATK: 1500-2000** DEF: 500-100)

"So Bastion's using a dark deck." Michael noted. "I wonder what else he's got in store."

"Guess we're about to find out." Jaden said.

"And now I attack with Des Mosquito! Destroy his Red Gadget!" The mosquito flew over to Xander's field and stabbed the red robot with its spear, making it explode.

"I activate my trap card, Time Machine!" As soon as one of Xander's facedown cards flipped up, a black, technical chamber appeared. "Whenever a monster is destroyed in battle, I can use this trap card to resurrect it. So let's welcome back, Red Gadget." The door of the chamber opened up and the red robot stepped out of it. (ATK: 1300 **DEF: 1500** LV: 4) "And now I can use its ability to take another Yellow Gadget from my deck." Xander took the named card from his deck and placed it in his hand.

"He seems to like gadgets." Jaden cracked.

"It's more than just that." Clover replied. "There are certain cards that are compatible with the Gadget monsters."

"Like what?" Shiori asked curiously.

"Just wait and see."

"Good show." Bastion complimented. "Pretty impressive."

"Thank you." Xander replied. "But that's just the beginning, because now I activate my other trap." His facedown card flipped up. "Stronghold the Moving Fortress." At the next moment, another monster appeared. It was a giant, metal gray robot that was vaguely human shaped. It had a single eye centered in its head and three holes in its chest, each shaped to fit a large gadget. The robot kneeled down before Xander. "When this trap card is activated, it stays on the field as a monster." (ATK: 0 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4)

"A trap monster, huh?" Matt noted.

"I take it that's one of the compatible cards you mentioned?" Jenny asked.

"That's right." Clover said. "Just wait until Xander unlocks its true power."

"I end my turn with a facedown." Bastion concluded as he inserted a card into his duel disk.

"Alright then, my move." Xander drew his next card. "And I'll start by switching my monsters to attack mode." The two robots stood up. "And then I summon Yellow Gadget in attack mode." The yellow gadget robot rose up next to the red one. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And since this monster was summoned, I can add Green Gadget to my hand." He took the named card from his deck and held it up. "Next I activate the spell card Double Summon. Thanks to this, I can make a second normal summon. So I'll bring out Green Gadget to the field." The green gadget like robot appeared between the other two. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 800 LV: 4) "And with this monster summoned to the field, I can take another Red Gadget from my deck to my hand." He went through his deck until he found the card he wanted and placed it in his hand.

"Three gadgets." Syrus noted.

"And that's exactly what he needs." Alexis said seriously.

"What do you mean?" Chumley asked.

"Guys, look!" Michael called out as he pointed toward the field.

Everyone looked to see what was going on. They saw the three gadget robots jump up and fit themselves into the holes in the giant robot's chest. And that caused it to power up. And then… ( **ATK: 0-3000** )

"Whoa!" Shiori gasped.

"No way!" Michael added.

"When I have all three Gadget monsters on the field, Stronghold's attack points are increased by 3000." Xander explained. "Now to put them to use. Stronghold, attack his Des Mosquito with Steel Gear Crush!" The giant robot pulled back its right arm robot and prepared to strike.

"I reveal my facedown card, Dimension Wall!" Bastion's facedown trap card flipped up. "Here's how it works, all battle damage I would have taken from this attack is dealt to you instead."

Xander widened his eyes as his robot monster threw a punch. But for some reason, the mosquito was able to block the attack with its spear and survive. Xander winced as he lost some points.

 **Xander: 4000-3000**

And then, one of the ends of the mosquito's spear stopped glowing. ( **ATK: 2000-1500** )

"Huh?"

"Oh, there's also Des Mosquito's special ability." Bastion started to explain. "When it's about to be destroyed in battle, it survives by getting rid of one of its counters."

"Clever." Zane said. "Not only did he cause Xander to take damage, but he also has a monster that survived the attack and can still stand up against the Gadget monsters."

"This is just like Bastion." Andrew said. "Always coming up with smart strategies."

"I must admit, that was an excellent move." Clover said.

"Okay, that didn't work so well." Xander commented. "Guess I'll end my turn with a facedown." He concluded as a card appeared behind Green Gadget.

"Very well." Bastion drew. "I summon Double Coston in attack mode." The monster, or monsters, that appeared next to the mosquito were a pair of purple grinning ghosts that were spinning around each other and laughed. ( **ATK: 1700-2200** DEF: 1650-1250 LV: 4) "Now attack his Yellow Gadget!" The ghosts flew toward the yellow robot.

"I activate the trap card, Pulse Mines!" Xander's facedown card revealed itself. "With a machine type monster on my field, I can force all your monsters to defense mode." The trap card released an electromagnetic pulse that sent the ghosts back to Bastion's field while the mosquito kneeled down.

"Well, good show." Bastion said. "I place one card facedown and end my turn." He concluded as he inserted a card into his duel disk.

"My turn." Xander drew. "I place one card facedown…" He inserted a card into his duel disk. "and summon Ancient Gear Wyvern in attack mode!"

"Ancient Gear?" Bastion gasped.

"Ancient Gear?" Andrew repeated as he and his friends, minus Clover were shocked.

"Ancient Gear?" Crowler said as he managed to get up after his accident with the microphone cord.

Everyone watched as a new monster appeared in the air. Like the name suggested, it was a wyvern of some kind. Its body however was mechanical, just like any other Ancient Gear monster. But most of its body was green. ( **ATK: 1700** DEF: 1200 LV: 4)

"I've never seen that monster before." Shiori said.

"And to think we would see someone besides Crowler to play an Ancient Gear monster." Matt added.

"And I have a feeling he might be even better than him." Michael said.

"My, I can not say I expected you to play a card like that." Bastion admitted.

"How come? You know someone else with this monster?" Xander asked.

"Well, I've never seen him play that. But he does have some cards from the same archetype. Although, I never saw him being so successful with them."

That comment caused Crowler to whimper and sink to the floor.

"Well, I can't see myself do worse, especially since my Wyvern's ability is about to activate. As soon as its normal or special summoned, I can take an Ancient Gear card from my deck and add it to my hand. Of course, I'm not allowed to take another Wyvern." Xander went through his deck and took the card he wanted before placing it in his hand. "And now it's time to battle. Yellow Gadget, attack Des Mosquito!" The yellow robot jumped out of Stronghold and gave mosquito a punch. The mosquito used its spear to block the attack, which caused the other glowing on the other end disappear. (ATK: 1500-1000)

"Nice try, but once again, Des Mosquito used its counter to save itself."

"But since that was the last one, it won't have so much luck with this attack. Go, Red Gadget!" The red robot jumped out of Stronghold and was more successful to give the mosquito a punch and destroy it. "And now I'll attack with Green Gadget!" The green robot jumped out of Stronghold before giving Double Coston a punch and destroyed them. "Now you're wide open! Stronghold, attack him directly with Steel Gear Crush!" The three gadgets jumped back into the giant robot as it pulled back its right fist and delivered a punch that went right through Bastion who cried out.

 **Bastion: 4000-1000**

"Aw man. Bastion got nailed." Syrus said.

"So, he's going to lose?" Chumley wondered.

Jaden didn't seem to be worried. "I don't know about that."

"I reveal my facedown trap card, Damage Vaccine Ω MAX!" Bastion's facedown card revealed itself and released a blue aura that surrounded him.

 **Bastion: 1000-4000**

"Wait, what!?" Xander let out.

"As soon as I take damage, I can use this trap card to regain the life points I just lost." Bastion explained.

"Oh yeah. That's the same card he used against me." Andrew commented.

"I guess letting Stronghold attack before Ancient Gear Wyvern was a mistake." Clover added.

"Man that sucks." Xander said while rubbing the back of his head. "Fine then, I'll just attack with Ancient Gear Wyvern. Now go!" The mechanical wyvern flew up in the air and reared back its head before it fired a blue energy beam at the intelligent Ra.

 **Bastion: 4000-2300**

"And that ends my turn." He concluded.

"Good show." Bastion drew. "First I activate my Pot of Greed, which allows me to draw two cards from my deck." He drew his extra cards. "And I'm going to activate one of them, Dark Hole!" At that, the floor was sizzling with purple electricity before it was completely covered by a black hole. "Due to its gravitational pull, this spell card destroys all monsters on the field."

"Oh no!" Xander watched as all his machine monsters were sucked into it, one after another.

"And with that out of the way, I activate Monster Reborn and bring back Double Coston from the graveyard." Bastion held up his spell card as the two ghosts reappeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1700-2200** DEF: 1650-1250 LV: 4)

"Those two again?"

"Indeed. However, they won't be around for long."

Xander blinked at Bastion's response. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is I'm about to summon something stronger in their place. You see, if I would tribute summon a dark attribute monster, I can use Double Coston as two sacrifices."

Xander's eyes widened. "Uh oh."

"So I'll sacrifice Double Coston in order to summon Fiendish Engine Ω!" The two ghosts disappeared and were replaced by a giant monster that appeared behind Bastion. It was a massive scarlet set of jet engines, forming the body of a robot with bony limbs. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 2000 LV: 8)

The Duel Academy crowd was cheering on the summoning.

"Whoa! That's big." Shiori commented.

"Looks like Bastion's bringing out the big gun." Michael added.

"Now all that's left is to attack and it's over." Matt said.

"And don't forget," Bastion reminded his opponent. "Mystic Plasma Zone is still on the field, so my monster gets stronger." ( **ATK: 2800-3300** DEF: 2000-1600) "Now Fiendish Engine Ω, attack his life points directly!" The giant charged forward and raised one of its arms, intending to slash Xander with its blade.

"I activate my trap! Ancient Gear Reborn!" His facedown card flipped up. "Here's how it works, once per turn, when I have no monsters on the field, this continuous trap card lets me summon an Ancient Gear monster from my graveyard. So I'll bring back my Wyvern in defense mode!" The mechanical wyvern rose up on the field let out a screech. (ATK: 1700-1900 **DEF: 1200** LV: 4)

"Hm?" Bastion was confused by the monster's attack strength, which Xander noticed.

"Oh, right. Any monster summoned by my trap card gets 200 attack points. Anyway, since my Wyvern was special summoned, I can take another Ancient Gear card from my deck." Xander took out another card from his deck and placed it in his hand.

"Very well, but my attack continues." The giant robot used its blade to cut the wyvern in half, making it explode. "And with that done, I place one card facedown and end my turn. And that activates my Fiendish Engine's special ability." The giant robot glowed with a red aura. And then, something appeared on its left side. It was some kind of machine with cables. It looked like a special kind of engine. "During my end phase, my Fiendish Engine creates an Engine Token." ( **ATK: 200** DEF: 200 LV: 1)

"Hey, that's cool." Jaden commented.

"But wait. How come that token's points haven't changed?" Syrus asked. "I mean, the field spell is supposed to give extra points."

"To dark attribute monsters, yes." Michael replied. "However, an Engine Token is an earth attribute monster. That's why."

"Oh."

"That might be a problem, especially since a token like that can only be summoned in attack mode." Jenny said. "That will make it a tempting target for an attack."

"And with the cards Xander have in his deck, I find it hard to believe that Bastion can protect it with his facedown card." Clover added.

"I draw." Xander drew a card. "And now it's time to show you _real_ machinery. Starting with the field spell Geartown." As soon as he played his spell card, the dark clouds disappeared. And then, the duelists found themselves inside a town filled with old run gears and run down machinery. "With your field spell gone, your monster gets weaker." ( **ATK: 3300-2800** DEF: 1600-2000)

"As for _my_ field spell, it will change everything. But first I'll play a spell card known as Ancient Gear Fortress." Once he inserted the card into his duel disk, a big, tall fortress made of stone appeared behind him. Just like Geartown, the fortress was full of gears on its different levels. "As long as this card is on the field, you cannot target or destroy my Ancient Gear monsters with card effects during the turn they are normal or special summoned. But that's not all. You're also not able to activate cards or effects in response to the activation of Ancient Gear cards and effects."

Bastion widened his eyes. "My, that's a remarkable defense you put."

"Got that right. And now I'll use the effect of Ancient Gear Reborn to bring back my Wyvern." The mechanical Wyvern appeared once again. ( **ATK: 1700-1900** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And once again, I'll use its special ability to add another Ancient Gear card to my hand." He took another card from his deck and placed it in his hand. "And now it's time for you to experience the effect of my field spell. With Geartown in play, both of us can tribute summon Ancient Gear monsters with one less sacrifice than usual."

"Great Scott!" Bastion exclaimed.

"Which means my Ancient Gear Wyvern is the only sacrifice I need in order to summon this…" The mechanical wyvern disappeared. "Ancient Gear Reactor Dragon!" With a mighty roar, the mechanical, serpentine-dragon with wings appeared in the air. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 3000 LV: 9)

The Duel Academy students gasped while the North Academy cheered loudly.

"What is that!?" Syrus exclaimed.

"A really powerful monster." Zane replied calmly.

"This is absurd." Crowler muttered angrily before crying anime tears. "I want a card like that."

Chazz chuckled evilly. "It's about time that someone took down that bookworm. It's a shame that it's not me, but as long as someone makes him pay for what he did to me."

Bastion stared at the new monster. "That's an impressive creature." He admitted.

Xander smiled. "Thank you. And during this turn, it'll be even more impressive. Remember, my Ancient Gear Fortress keeps you from targeting and destroying my monster with card effects." The dragon growled as it released a red aura.

But Bastion smirked. "Perhaps. But with the card I have on the field, I can get around that defense."

"Huh?" Xander blinked.

"I reveal my facedown card, Gravity Bind!" Bastion's facedown trap card flipped up.

"No way!" Clover widened her eyes.

"Yes way." Jaden replied. "Bastion's monsters are safe."

"Indeed they are." The Ra said. "Because this trap card prevents us from attacking with monsters that are level 4 or above."

Xander clicked his tongue. "Then I'm stuck."

Chazz growled. "Persistent Ra Reject."

"Okay, I'll end my turn."

"I thought you would." Bastion drew a card. "First I activate the spell card Upstart Goblin. This lets me draw one card, while giving you 1000 life points."

 **Xander: 3000-4000**

Bastion drew his extra card, looked at it and nodded. "And now I activate Magic Planter. By sending a continuous trap card to my graveyard, I can draw two cards. So I'll dispose my Gravity Bind." The named trap card disappeared.

Xander raised an eyebrow. "Are sure you want to give up that defense so soon?"

Bastion drew his two new cards and looked at them before he answered. "Trust me, Xander. This is the part of my strategy. And this is where my calculations brought me. I sacrifice my Engine Token so I can summon Vanity's Fiend!" The small engine disappeared and was replaced by a different monster. It was a man with long red hair and long black robes that covered all but his head and hands. He had a piece of what appeared to be black and gray metal attached to the left side of his face and was wearing a shoulder guard of the same material. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 1200 LV: 6)

"Another Vanity monster." Andrew said in shock.

"That was unexpected." Jenny added.

"Did you say _another_ Vanity monster?" Clover asked.

"Yeah. Bastion dueled me once and used his light deck." Andrew explained. "The ace monster he pulled from it was Vanity's Ruler, a high level monster that prevents the opponent from special summoning monsters."

Clover whistled. "Damn. That must have been tough for you."

"It really was."

"And if that Vanity's Fiend is anything like Vanity's Ruler, then Xander's in trouble now." Alexis said.

Xander stared at the new monster. "That guy looks interesting, but I don't see how he's going to take down my Dragon."

Bastion shook his head. "I never said I was going to destroy your dragon with him. Destroying it is Fiendish Engine's job. And before you ask, I'm going to use its second effect. Once per turn, I can increase its attack strength by 1000 points." The giant robot unleashed a red aura as its power increased. ( **ATK: 2800-3800** ) "Now Fiendish Engine Ω, attack his Ancient Gear Reactor Dragon!" The robot charged forward and raised its right arm before it struck the mechanical dragon, making it explode.

 **Xander: 4000-3200**

"You may have destroyed my dragon, but I'll just bring him back. Ancient Gear Reborn, activate!" At that said, Xander waited for his dragon's return. But to his confusion, nothing happened. "Huh? What's going on?"

Bastion smirked. "I'm afraid you won't be able to bring it back. And it's all because of Vanity's Fiend's ability. As long as he remains on the field, neither of us can special summon any monsters."

"Say what!?"

"I knew it." Alexis said.

"Sweet! Looks like Bastion has the upper hand now." Jaden cheered.

"Nice." Matt added.

"Now Vanity's Fiend, attack him directly!" The red haired man raised both his hands and shot a beam of dark energy at Xander, thus knocking him down.

 **Xander: 3200-0800**

"Ha! In your face, Foster!" Sheppard cheered. "My second rep is close to victory."

Foster growled. "This isn't over. Even though he's not using my school's top cards, Xander is still a strong duelist."

Xander got back to his feet and gave Bastion a smile. "I gotta admit, that was impressive."

"Thank you."

"But I wonder how you're gonna do after your Fiendish Engine Ω destroys itself.

Many of Bastion's friends were confused by that statement.

"Destroys itself? What's he talking about?" Chumley asked.

"Yeah, what gives?" Jaden added.

"Xander is referring to Fiendish Engine's weakness." Clover replied.

"Weakness?" Shiori repeated.

"Ah yes." Bastion spoke up. "Fiendish Engine Ω's weakness. After its attack points are increased by its special ability, it will self-destruct at the end of the turn."

"For real?" Matt asked in shock.

"That is quite troublesome." Michael said.

Bastion then smirked. "But let's see if I can do something before that happens." He then inserted the last card he held into his duel disk. "I activate the spell, Card of Demise. This lets me draw until I have 5 cards in my hand. But after 5 turns, my hand goes to the graveyard." He drew a new hand and looked at it. He then nodded. "Good. This is just what I need." He held up one of his new cards. "I activate the spell card Dimensionhole. With this I can remove one of my monsters from play until my next standby phase. And I think I'll send my Fiendish Engine away." A large dimensional rip appeared above the giant robot and sucked it inside.

"Looks like Bastion found a way around his monster's ability." Zane said.

"He certainly knows how to play smart." Clover admitted.

"He sure does." Jaden added. "Way to go, Bastion!"

"I end my turn with a facedown." Bastion concluded as a card appeared behind Vanity's Ruler.

"I draw." Xander drew. "First I activate the spell card, Pot of Greed. This lets me draw two cards." he drew his two extra cards. "Then I activate the spell card Solidarity." A spell card appeared. "If I have only 1 type of monster in my graveyard, all monsters on my field of that type gain 800 attack points. And with Geartown still in play, I don't need a sacrifice to summon Ancient Gear Beast." The monster that appeared was a mechanical being that resembled a wolf. Its body was made of the same old metal and gears like the other Ancient Gear monsters. ( **ATK: 2000-2800** DEF: 2000 LV: 6)

"Even with Vanity's Fiend on the field, Xander is able to bring out powerful monsters." Andrew noted.

"Told you it was dumb to underestimate him." Clover replied.

"Maybe, but I don't think Bastion's gonna let that beast sic on him so easily." Shiori said.

"A remarkable move." Bastion commented. "But that won't work so much against my trap card." His facedown card flipped up. "Intrigue Shield." A gold shield appeared in Vanity's Fiend's right hand. It had a crest in the form of a pair of white horses with wings. "Now, as long as my monster is in attack mode and equipped with this shield, it can't be destroyed in battle once per turn and I don't take any battle damage from battles with it."

"For real?" Xander asked in surprise.

"Once again, Bastion's one step ahead." Matt commented.

"Wow, now it's definitely hard to get rid of Vanity's Fiend." Michael added.

It was then Clover noticed Xander's expression change from surprised to determined. "Maybe, but Xander won't give up that easily."

The mechanic inserted a card into his duel disk. "I place one card facedown and my turn."

"Very well." Bastion drew. "And now it's time for Fiendish Engine Ω to return." At that, the giant robot emerged from the portal it left through and stood next to Vanity's Fiend. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 2000 LV: 8) "Then I activate the spell card, Sword of Dark Rites." A weirdly shaped blade appeared in front of the giant robot that grabbed it with its right hand. "This word raises the attack points of any dark attribute monster by 400." ( **ATK: 2800-3200** ) "Now attack his Ancient Gear Beast." The robot approached the mechanical wolf and raised its sword.

"Not so fast, Bastion!" Xander interrupted as his facedown card revealed itself. "I activate the trap card, Rare Metalmorph! This lets me choose a machine type monster on the field and have its attack points raised by 500, as long as this card remains on the field. So now I'll give my Beast an upgrade." The mechanical wolf glowed for a moment before its body changed. Instead of being rusty, it was now in metallic silver. ( **ATK: 2800-3300** )

Bastion gasped as the mechanical wolf pounced on the giant robot and bit down on its face, making it explode.

 **Bastion: 2300-2200**

"Now way!" Syrus gasped. "He actually destroyed the Fiendish Engine."

"Just when I thought Bastion won." Shiori added.

"Well, a duel is not over 'til the last card is played." Jaden replied. "This is just getting started."

"A minor setback." Bastion said. "I place one monster facedown in defense mode and end my turn." A card appeared next to Vanity's Fiend."

"Then here goes." Xander announced and drew a card. "I summon Yellow Gadget in attack mode." The yellow gadget robot appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1200-2000** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And thanks to its effect, I can take another Green Gadget from my deck to my hand." He searched through his deck and took out the card he wanted. "Next I activate the spell card Iron Draw. If I have two machine type effect monsters on the field, I can draw two more cards." He drew his extra cards. "Now I'll attack your facedown monster with my Yellow Gadget!" The yellow robot leapt forward and punched the facedown card. Once it was gone, it was replaced by a swirling sphere of dark matter. (ATK: 1100 **DEF: 700** LV: 3)

And suddenly, it expanded and pushed Yellow Gadget back to Xander's field. Both duelists found themselves inside the swirling sphere. "What is this!?" Xander asked in shock.

"This is the flip effect of my Gravitic Orb." Bastion explained. "It forces all face up monsters on your field to switch modes."

Xander watched as the yellow robot crossed its arms and kneeled down while the mechanical wolf lowered itself. He then inserted a card into his duel disk. "I place one card. It's your move."

Bastion drew. "Fine then. I summon Vorse Raider in attack mode!" A beastial fiend with a wicked curved axe in its hands appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1900** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Now attack his Yellow Gadget!" The beast-warrior charged forward.

"I activate my trap…!" Xander's facedown card flipped up. "Negate Attack!" Vorse Raider stopped as a red barrier appeared. "This trap card stops your attack and your battle phase is over."

"Not bad. I end my turn with a facedown." Bastion concluded as a card appeared behind Vorse Raider.

"And you better brace yourself." Xander warned him as he drew a card. "Because you're about to meet something unique and terrifying. But first I'll switch my Beast to attack mode." The wolf stood up. "And now with the power of Geartown, I'll sacrifice my Yellow Gadget and nothing else in order to summon Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon!" The yellow robot disappeared and was replaced by a creature that let out a mighty roar. A big, mechanical dragon with wings and a long tail. ( **ATK: 3000-3800** DEF: 2000 LV: 8)

"How many mechanical dragons does he have?" Matt asked.

"Just enough to cause his opponents trouble." Clover replied.

"You don't say." Alexis said.

"Alright, Bastion. It's time to say goodbye to your Vanity's Fiend. And don't think you can stop me with your facedown card, because when my Beast and dragon attacks, you can't activate any spell or traps."

Bastion glanced at his facedown card. _'I should have known. That means I can't save Vanity's Fiend.'_

"Ancient Gear Beast, sic him!" The mechanical wolf pounced on the the red haired man who used his shield to block the attack.

"Your attack was blocked, thanks to Intrigue Shield."

"Maybe, but that won't work more than once per turn. Go, Gadjiltron Dragon. Finish him off with Mechanized Dragon Breath!" The dragon reared back its head and then unleashed a beam of green energy that easily destroyed the red haired man.

"Impressive, but thanks to my shield, my life points were spared.

Xander smirked. "Yeah, from battle damage. However, my dragon won't finish its job without leaving a mark. You see, it has three special abilities, and depending on the Gadget monster I sacrificed to summon it, I'll get access to one of them."

Bastion gasped.

"And I sacrificed Yellow Gadget, so that means whenever my dragon destroys a monster in battle, you take 600 points of damage." At that, the dragon fired another energy beam at the Ra.

 **Bastion: 2200-1600**

"I place one card facedown and end my turn." He concluded while inserting a card into his duel disk.

"My turn." Bastion drew. "I play a monster in defense mode and switch Vorse Raider to defense mode." The beast-warrior kneeled down as a card appeared next to it. "That's all for now."

"And before my turn begins I activate the trap card Solemn Wishes." Xander's facedown card flipped up. "Now I'll gain 500 life points whenever I draw." He drew his next card.

 **Xander: 0800-1300**

"Now, Gadjiltron Dragon, attack Vorse Raider!" The dragon fired another energy beam and destroyed the beast-warrior. "And don't forget, my dragon deals 600 points of damage by destroying a monster."

 **Bastion: 1600-1000**

"Ancient Gear Beast, your turn." The mechanical wolf leapt the facedown that flipped up. The monster that came out of it was a small, reaper-like creature. It was wearing purple robes and held up a scythe, which it used to block the sharp teeth of Xander's monster. (ATK: 300 **DEF: 200** LV: 3)

"Nice try, Xander. But you attacked Spirit Reaper, a monster that can't be destroyed in battle." Bastion explained as the wolf returned to its side.

"I summon Green Gadget in defense." The green robot appeared and kneeled down. (ATK: 1400-2200 **DEF: 800** LV: 4) "I end my turn."

"I draw." Bastion looked at the card he drew and inserted it into his duel disk. "I place one facedown and end my turn."

"Is that it?" Syrus wondered.

"Well, given the situation, Bastion can't do so much." Michael said.

"I draw."

 **Xander: 1300-1800**

"I summon Ancient Gear Cannon!" The robotic gun turret appeared. ( **ATK: 500-1300** DEF: 500 LV: 2) "This weapon is full of ammo with enough power to deal 500 points of damage if I sacrifice it." Bastion raised up his arms to defend himself as the cannon fired two shots at him before it disappeared.

 **Bastion: 1000-0500**

"And that's all."

"Very well." Bastion drew. "And this is now my 5th standby phase after I played my Card of Demise. So I must send my entire hand to the graveyard." He discarded his cards.

"That's too bad." Xander said.

"Don't worry. I knew this was coming, that's why placed this card on the field during my last turn." At that, one of Bastion's facedown cards flipped up. "I activate Card of Sanctity. This makes both of us to draw until we hold six cards in our hands." Both duelists drew their extra cards. "Now I sacrifice Spirit Reaper in order to summon Blowback Dragon!" The small reaper disappeared and was replaced by a dragon like machine monster. It had a tail and two legs, but no arms. The most interesting part of its body was its red colored head, with its forehead being a cannon. ( **ATK: 2300** DEF: 1200 LV: 6)

"This monster has a special ability. Once per turn, I can toss a coin 3 times. After that I can destroy one of cards, but only if I get heads at least two times." He pulled out a coin from his pocket and flipped it. When the coin landed on his hand, it showed a side that looked like a Millennium Eye knock off. "Heads." Bastion tossed the coin a second time. This time the coin showed a side that had a single dot. "Tails." The onlookers watched closely as he flipped it a third time. Once it landed, Bastion smirked at the result. "Heads. I'm afraid you're about to lose your Solidarity card." The dragon charged up its cannon, firing a shot of blue energy which blew up Xander's spell card.

"Uh oh." The mechanic let out.

"That's right, now your monsters are weaker." (ATK: 2200-1400) ( **ATK: 3300-2500** ) ( **ATK: 3800-3000** )

"That's weird." Jaden said, looking confused. "I thought he was going to destroy one of Xander's monsters."

"Yeah, what gives?" Chumley wondered.

"Maybe Bastion's got something else to destroy them?" Andrew replied.

On que, Bastion took another card from his hand. "Now I activate Polymerization and use it to fuse Blowback Dragon with Barrel Dragon to form Gatling Dragon!" A fusion vortex absorbed the dragon machine, along with another dragon machine. It was black with a long, glowing blue cannon on each arm, and one on its forehead. After a moment, a large machine landed hard onto the field, cracking the ground underneath with its spiked cartwheels. Its dark-grey torso supported three tubes with a large, silver gatling gun a mouth attached on each end. Two are treated as arms attached to the sides while the third acted as the head itself. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 1200 LV: 8)

"Looks like Bastion's plan was to deal with Xander's monsters with that creature." Zane noted.

"But why? What can that do?" Syrus asked.

"I think we're about to find out." Jenny replied.

"Now I activate the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon." Bastion held up the named card. "Now I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field, like Ancient Gear Reborn."

Xander gasped as a cyclone appeared and blew his trap card away.

"And with that out of the way, I activate Gatling Dragon's ability." Bastion picked out his coin again. "Once per turn, I can toss a coin three times, and for every time I get heads, one monster on the field is destroyed."

"Now I see." Andrew realized. "If Bastion manage to get heads three times, then he can destroy all three monsters on Xander's field. And if Ancient Reborn remained on the field if something like that happened…"

"Then Xander would just summon a monster back from the grave." Shiori filled in.

"Then this will determine the outcome of the duel." Clover added.

"Now then, let's begin." Bastion flipped his coin and it landed on… "Heads." He flipped the coin again. "Heads."

Xander was getting nervous now. _'If it lands on heads again, then I'll be_ _completely defenseless.'_

Bastion flipped his coin the third time and apparently, it landed on… "Tails." Bastion frowned for a bit. "Fine then, I'll let my dragon destroy Gadjiltron Dragon and Ancient Gear Beast." At that, Xander's dragon and wolf were shot down by two of Gatling dragon's heads.

"Looks like you have to get through my Green Gadget with a normal attack." Xander stated.

"Indeed, but before that, I activate the spell card Stop Defense."

Xander gasped when Bastion held up his card. "No way!"

"That's right, I'll use it to switch your gadget to attack mode." The green robot stood up. "Now Gatling Dragon, attack his Green Gadget with Gatling Blast!" The dragon fired off and destroyed the green robot.

 **Xander: 1800-0600**

"I end my turn with a facedown." Bastion concluded as he inserted a card into his duel disk.

"I wonder what that facedown card is." Matt said.

"Probably something that will save his monster in case Xander brings out something big." Alexis replied.

Xander stared at his deck. "Alright, here goes." He drew his next card...

 **Xander: 0600-1100**

And looked at it before he looked over his hand. He then smirked. "This will do."

Bastion widened his eyes.

"First I summon Red Gadget." The red robot appeared. ( **ATK: 1300** DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "Then I activate the spell card Ancient Gear Workshop. This lets me take an Ancient Gear monster from my graveyard and add it to my hand. I choose my Gadjiltron Dragon." He took out the named card from his graveyard slot. "Then I activate the spell card Magical Stone Excavation. By discarding two cards from my hand, I can take back a spell card from my grave." He discarded two cards and picked up a certain spell card. "And I'll use it right away. The spell card, Double Summon, which means I can summon a second monster. So goodbye, Red Gadget…" The red robot disappeared. "And hello Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon." The big mechanical dragon appeared again. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 2000 LV: 8)

The DA students gasped while the NA students cheered.

"No way! That dragon is back." Michael stated.

"Yeah, He really pulled it off." Andrew added.

"Of course he did." Clover said proudly.

Bastion gave Xander a smile. "I must say I'm impressed by your dueling skills."

Xander smiled back. "Thank you. You're pretty good yourself. It's too bad that this is about to end."

"Indeed it will... after I use my trap card."

Xander widened his eyes as one of Bastion's facedown cards flipped up. "I activate the trap card Floodgate Trap Hole. When you summon monsters, this card makes all of them to go to facedown defense mode."

"Ohh, that was clever." Clover commented. "Since that card doesn't really target monsters, it gets around Ancient Gear Fortress."

"Then this is it." Shiori said. "Bastion's about to win."

"Unless Xander has something else to play." Clover replied.

Bastion expected Xander to be shocked. But to his confusion, he just smirked.

"Nice move, but not good enough I'm afraid." Xander then held up a spell card. "I play Double Cyclone. This lets me destroy two spell or trap cards on the field. One on my side, and one on your side. And I see you still have one facedown card on the field."

Bastion glanced at the card in question. _'That's right. My Sakuretsu Armor. I couldn't use it when he attacked with his Ancient Gear monsters. And even though I could use it when he attacked Gravitic Orb with Yellow Gadget, I decided to save it for something stronger.'_ He then looked at Xander. _'But I don't see what's in it for Xander to destroy one of his own cards.'_

"I'll destroy your facedown card and my Geartown!"

That earned surprised gasps from Bastion and the audience.

"What!? Why would he destroy his own field spell?" Matt asked.

Clover smirked. "Just wait and see." The group, minus Zane, glanced at her before focusing on the duel.

Two cyclones appeared from the middle of the field. One of them blew Bastion's facedown away. the other one surrounded Xander, making his field spell come out of his duel disk. And thus, the Geartown was gone.

"I bet you're wondering why I destroyed my field spell card." Xander said. "Well, I did it so I could use its second ability. As soon as it's destroyed and sent to the graveyard, I can summon an Ancient Gear monster from my hand, deck or graveyard."

Bastion gasped. And so did his friends.

"No way!" Jaden exclaimed.

"Then that means…" Andrew said.

"That means I can summon back my old friend, Ancient Gear Reactor Dragon!" With a mighty roar, The winged, mechanical serpentine dragon appeared once again. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 3000 LV: 9)

"Whoa!" Shiori let out.

"Incredible!" Jenny added.

"And now for my final card…" Xander held up the last card in his hand. "The spell, Limiter Removal!"

"What does that do?" Jaden asked.

"Something that will put an end to this." Zane replied.

"With this spell card I can double my machine monster's attack points."

Bastion gasped upon hearing those words. He watched as the dragon let out another roar as it unleashed a red aura. ( **ATK: 3000-6000** )

"Now, Reactor Dragon, end this duel with Ancient Reactor Blast! The dragon reared back its head while its chest piece glowed brightly. It then unleashed a red energy beam and destroyed Gatling Dragon with a massive explosion. Once the smoke cleared, everyone saw Bastion down on one knee.

 **Bastion: 0500-0000**

It didn't take long for the NA students to cheer loudly for Xander's victory. The DA students weren't so much happy.

"Aw man. Bastion lost." Syrus said.

"Never thought it would end like this." Matt added.

Jaden, on the other hand. was smiling. "But you gotta admit, that was a very sweet duel."

Andrew nodded in agreement. "That's true. Both of them gave everything they had."

Clover smiled. "And with one victory for each side, this School Duel is getting more exciting."

Chazz's brothers, Slade and Jagger watched this smirking.

"Yes. The North Academy earned a victory." Jagger said.

"Now the rest is up to Chazz. And with the cards we gave him, he can't lose." Slade added.

With the two Chancellors, Foster smirked while Sheppard was disappointed.

"Well, well, looks like my school is just one duel away from victory." Foster said.

Sheppard glared at him. "Oh yeah? Well don't count us out just yet!"

With the two duelists, Xander approached Bastion who just got up on his feet. The Ra looked at him as he held up a hand.

"That was an excellent duel, Bastion." He said smiling.

Bastion smiled back and shook his hand. "Indeed. You're truly a remarkable duelist. More skilled than I calculated."

"Well, there's always next time."

"True. And it will be another deck for that."

Crowler stepped forward and spoke in the microphone. "The winner of the second match is, Xander Murphy. Now, please clear the stage for the final match."

Xander and Bastion walked off the stage went to their seats as Chazz made his way to the dueling platform.

"Finally, it's time to learn that Slifer Slacker his place." He muttered.

As Bastion joined his friends, Jaden stood up. "Nicely played, Bastion."

"Thanks. But unfortunately, Xander was better."

"No worries, bro. You just leave this to me."

"Good luck, Jaden." Andrew said. "I know you can do it."

"Thanks, Andrew." At that, Jaden went down for his duel against the former Obelisk Blue student.

* * *

 **Poor Bastion. Despite his hard work, he lost. Then again, he didn't have so many victories in the anime, and like a certain someone mentioned in their** **review, he deserved better. So I hope he'll step up on his game in the future. Anyway, I believe that some of you are wondering why Bastion used Barrel Dragon, Blowback Dragon and Gatling Dragon. Well, in the episode Duel Distractions - Part 1, He used Barrel Dragon to give Jaden and his friends a rude awakening, and I thought 'Why not?'. Well, that's all for now. Until next time.**


	34. Chapter 34

**The School Duel: Part 3 - What's Worth For Dueling**

It was finally time. The third match of the School Duel. And now, Jaden and Chazz were facing each other in the center of the arena, ready to play.

"Alright, go time!" Chazz announced. "Let's see what you got, Jaden."

"With pleasure." The Slifer replied.

"No, the pleasure's going to be all mine, because you're going down!"

"Duel!"

 **Jaden: 4000**

 **Chazz: 4000**

"Chazz it up! Take him down, Chazz!" The North Academy students cheered.

"Ask and you shall receive!" Chazz said as he drew his sixth card. "For my first move, I'm going to summon a monster with some bite. Rise, Masked Dragon!" A dragon appeared in a defensive curl. It had red covering that went from the end of its long serpentine neck to the tip of its elongated tail. The rest of its body was beige grayish colored, save for the inside of its wings which were purple. And like the name suggested, its face looked like it was covered by a mask. (ATK: 1400 **DEF: 1100** LV: 3) "That'll do for now."

"Not once you see what I got for ya." Jaden replied as he drew his sixth card. "Just what I wanted. I play, Elemental HERO Burstinatrix, in attack mode!" The red clad female hero rose in a spout of fire. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 800 LV: 3) "Actually, on second thought, I should say slayer mode, cuz that's just what she's gonna do to that dragon!"

Clover grimaced at that. "Oh no, bad idea."

Andrew and most of his friends looked at her confused. "What? Why?"

Burstinatrix formed a large fireball in her hands and threw it at the dragon.

"Now he did it." Clover said.

"What do you mean?" Syrus asked. "Jaden took the lead just now."

Chazz smirked. "Actually, he took the bait."

"Uh oh." Jaden said.

"I activate my Masked Dragon's special ability! You see, when this card is sent to the graveyard due to a battle, I can summon a dragon type monster with 1500 or fewer attack points from my deck. And I have just the one. Go ahead and see for yourself. Come out, Armed Dragon LV 3!" At that command, a smaller dragon appeared on the field. Its body was mostly orange, except for its neck, the top half of its head, the back of its hands, small wings, as well as its subbed tail, which were a dull brown. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 900 LV: 3)

"Another LV monster?" Andrew asked in shock.

"Yeah, and 3 is the lowest. If Chazz plays this right, that dragon will get a lot bigger."

"Indeed." Bastion agreed. "I just wonder where Chazz ever got such a powerful card."

"It was Chancellor Foster." Clover replied. "He really wants North Academy to win, so he gave Chazz North Academy's top dueling cards."

Jenny turned to her. "Then I suppose he gave you that Horus the Black Flame Dragon?"

"That's right." Clover admitted. "To be honest, I was pretty hesitant to add it to my deck. But then, in the end, I decided it would be a good addition to my deck."

"Well, you certainly gave me a run for my money with it." Andrew said.

"But now it's Chazz who's using a LV monster. So Jaden better be careful." Shiori added.

Sheppard gasped at the new dragon. "It can't be…"

"It is." Foster replied with a proud smirk. "Like I said, I want that prize, and I'm going to get it."

Sheppard stood up. "Oh yeah? Well, we'll see about that! Let's go, Jaden! Come on! Jaden it up! Jaden it up!"

"Yeah... uh, sure." Jaden scratched his nose as his headmaster tried to cheer him on. "Anyway, sweet card, Chazz. I can't wait to see what that Armed Dragon card can do."

Chazz smirked. "Don't worry. You'll have a first row seat."

"Til then. But now, I'm throwing down a facedown and ending my turn." A card appeared behind Burstinatrix.

"Great, now I can start ending you." Chazz drew his next card and grinned in anticipation. "You see Jaden, during my standby phase, Armed Dragon's effect activates. So by sending 1 card to the graveyard and sacrificing his level 3 form, I can summon Armed Dragon LV 5 directly to the field."

"Say what!?"

"This isn't good." Syrus said.

"Now then, let's go ahead and get to it, shall we? Armed Dragon LV 5, rise!" The small dragon disappeared in a flash of light, and was replaced by another one. This one was built the same general way as the last one. However, this one was bigger. Its orange and brown body parts became red and black. It also had spikes on its knuckles, shoulders knees and back, amongst others. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 1700 LV: 5) The North Academy students cheered for Chazz at this.

"Yikes! And I thought it looked dangerous in its previous form." Matt commented.

"Be careful Jaden!" Bastion warned him. "By leveling up, Armed Dragon's power has substantially increased! And he was plenty powerful before!"

"Aww man." Syrus moaned.

Sheppard watched as Foster snickered evilly.

"Wow, Chazz. That thing's pretty sweet. But then, so is my trap. Hero Ring! And I'll equip it to Burstinatrix!" Jaden's facedown card flipped up before it dissolved and materialized as a medium-sized red shield attached to the female hero's arm. "Now monsters with 1900 or more attack points can't attack. Hence the breaks!"

Chazz just laughed at that move. "You want breaks? I'll give you breaks, Jaden. Because even _with_ that Hero Ring shield out, my Armed Dragon LV 5 is going to crush your creature!"

"How?"

"Armed Dragon's special ability, that's how. You see, by discarding a monster to the grave, I can destroy a monster of yours whose attack points are equal or less than the one I tossed."

"Wait, so…"

"So, since Flying Kamakiri #1 has more attack points than your monster…" Chazz started as he slid a monster card into his graveyard slot.

"Then any monster with up to 1400 attack points is destroyed!" Jenny said.

"Like Burstinatrix…" Michael added.

"I'm sorry, Burst. My bad." Jaden apologized to his hero monster.

"Go, Armed Dragon LV 5, Shrapnel Blast!" The big dragon roared as the spikes all around its body shot out like missiles, sailing through the air before coming down on the red female hero, blowing her away in an explosion. "And that was just his special ability. Now, time for his direct attack! Inferno Roar!" Armed Dragon let out a roar as blades of red energy shot out from its body and slammed into Jaden, blasting him off his feet and sending him crashing into the ground further back.

 **Jaden: 4000-1600**

Xander, who was watching this at the railing surrounding the stands, cringed at the damage. "Ow! That's gotta hurt."

Chazz scoffed. "So that's Duel Academy's best, huh?"

"Come on! Get up, please!" Sheppard called out.

In response, Jaden flipped up to his feet. "Nice shot." He complimented as he rubbed the back of his head. "Although, I've gotta say, I think for the next TV broadcast, I'd like to arrange to have a stunt man." Jaden laughed at this."

"Whatever. I'm placing one card facedown and ending my turn." Chazz concluded as he inserted a card into his duel disk.

"He's finally acting like a Princeton." Slade commented.

"That's true. I just hope he doesn't win too fast." Jagger said, getting a confused look from his bearded brother. "Hey, the longer he trashes this kid, the more we make of commercial revenues."

Both brothers turned back to the duel, laughing at their plan of personal gain.

"My go!" Jaden announced and drew a card. "You're in trouble now. I play Elemental HERO Bubbleman, in attack mode!" The blue-armored water hero appeared on the field, his cape billowing behind him. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And when Bubbleman is summoned and there are no other cards out on my field, like right now, I'm allowed to draw two more cards." He drew his extra cards. "And now I'll use one of them, Polymerization! To fuse Elemental heroes Avian and Sparkman with Bubbleman to create... wait for it…" The green wind hero, along with the blue and golden electric hero appeared before all three changed into a swirl of blue, green and yellow light which began to intertwine. "Elemental HERO Tempest!" The lights merged to form the cannon armed, powerful winged hero. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 2800 LV: 8)

"Alright! You got him now, Jay!" Syrus cheered.

"With fly boy there?" Chazz sneered.

"You'd better believe it. And he gives a new definition to the term 'air power'. Glider Strike!" Tempest flew into the air and pointed the cannon on his arm at the red and black dragon. He then fired a blast of blue energy which destroyed it.

 **Chazz: 4000-3600**

"Thanks for that. It lets me play... my trap! Call of the Haunted!" Chazz's facedown card flipped up.

"Uh oh." Jaden said.

"Not that one." Shiori said.

"Do you believe in ghosts? Well you're about to. Because this card lets me summon back any monster I want from my graveyard. And I bet you can guess which one I'm gonna pick. Armed Dragon LV 5, rise!" The big red and black dragon rose again on Chazz's field. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 1700 LV: 5)

"Chazz it up! Chazz it up!" The North Academy students cheered. "Show no mercy!"

"Well, I guess I'll just throw down a facedown and hope for the best." Jaden said as a card appeared between him and his hero monster.

 _'Go ahead.'_ Chazz thought to himself. _'Because with what I have for you, even your best won't be enough.'_  
"Get ready for me to mop this low rent Duel Academy floor with you, Jaden. Cuz now..." Chazz said as he drew his next card. "I'm using Armed Dragon's special ability. I'm discarding Despair from the Dark from my hand to the graveyard." He slid a card into his graveyard slot. "And since it has 2800 attack points, your birdman's headed to the pet cemetery. Now, Armed Dragon, destroy hero Tempest with Shrapnel Blast!" The dragon's spikes shot out towards the hero monster.

"I activate, the spell De-Fusion!" Jaden's facedown card flipped up. "Quick, de-fuse Tempest!" Just before the spikes blasted the platform, Tempest turned back into the three fusion materials, avoiding the blast. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1000** LV: 3) (ATK: 1600 **DEF: 1400** LV: 4) (ATK: 800 **DEF: 1200** LV: 4)

"Talk about close." Syrus commented.

"I know." Chumley replied. "He barely saved his monsters."

"Whatever, my Armed Dragon still has his attack to use." Chazz retorted. "And now I'm going to use it! Go, Inferno Roar!" Once again, the big dragon roared and unleashed blades of red energy and this time, they destroyed Sparkman in an explosion that obscured the field. When the smoke cleared, Chazz spoke up again. "And now to take this duel and my dragon to the next level."

"What?" Jaden said.

"Don't tell me…" Andrew said worriedly

"It's time to upgrade my Armed Dragon LV 5 to Lv 7! Won't you join me Jaden? In welcoming... the ultimate and the all powerful…" Chazz threw his arms into the air. "The LV 7 Armed Dragon!" And in a red flash, the dragon evolved once again. And as anyone would predict, this form was bigger than the last. Its tail and neck were longer, black armor covered much of its body, including its head and it had large steel wings extending from its back. And on top of that, the spikes of its body were replaced by blades. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 1000 LV: 7)

"Chazz it up! Chazz it up! Chazz it up!"

While the North Academy students cheered, Jaden stared at the new dragon. "Okay, so he's big. But who knows? I mean, he _could_ be friendly."

"Nuh huh. That dragon can obviously not be friendly." Michael commented.

"And with that kind of level and those attack points, its special ability must be really nasty." Andrew added.

"That's strange." Jagger said, frowning at the sight of Chazz's dragon. "That monster wasn't in the suitcase I gave Chazz."

"What!?" Slade looked at him.

"Armed Dragon LV 3 and 5, that's for sure. But that LV 7 wasn't in there."

The bearded Princeton then turned back to the duel with a hard glare. "Does this mean... Chazz isn't using our cards!?"

Sheppard glared at Foster who watched this the progress of the duel with a smug expression. The Duel Academy Chancellor then stood up. "Jaden, we're with you! Come on everybody! Jaden it up! Jaden it up!"

The North Academy booed for his words.

"Tell him how it _really_ goes!" Chazz said.

"Chazz it up! Show him no mercy!"

The young Princeton turned back to Jaden with a smirk. "Aww, what's wrong? You're not so talkative anymore? You don't have anything to say, Jaden?"

To his surprise, Jaden stared at the dragon with a smile. "Yeah, I do. I've gotta get me one of those! He's so cool! Trade for him?"

"No! I won't trade for him!" Chazz replied annoyingly. "What's wrong with you!? You should be scared of him, not admiring him!"

"But how could I not? He's an incredible monster and this has been an incredible duel!" As he spoke, Jaden jumped up and down on his place like an excited kid. "How can anyone _not_ be excited!? I mean, this is as good as it gets! I'm stoked! This is what dueling's all about! Thanks Chazz!"

"Thanks? You're pitiful, Jaden. Jumping up and down like some fool, never taking anything serious, that's why you'll never be a champion. You see, it takes discipline to win. You need to have a sense of duty. You need to have some kind of plan. And I have a plan, and I have a sense of duty, that's why I'm going to beat you, Jaden! That's why I'll beat anyone in my way! I can conquer anyone! You got that! I'm gonna conquer the whole world!"

Xander started to get nervous. "Oookay, now I'm really worried."

"Geez, he's got serious trouble." Clover commented.

"No kidding." Jenny agreed while everyone, minus Zane, nodded.

"Okaay, well if you don't mind, can I take my turn firs?." Jaden asked, being somewhat weirded out.

"Make it quick!" Chazz demanded angrily.

"Chill." Jaden drew a card. "Alright, I'll call up Wroughtweiler in defense mode!" The metal dog appeared between the two hero monsters. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 1200** LV: 3) "And I'll throw down a facedown. How's that for quick?"

"Not bad, but downright sluggish compared to how quick my dragon's gonna take out all your monsters. Watch this. I'm using my Armed Dragon's special ability. Now, by discarding a monster from my hand, I can destroy all monsters you have out with equal or fewer attack points."

"That's not good."

"Oh no! That'll leave Jaden wide open!" Alexis noted.

"Dear me!" Crowler said.

"That is one impressive special power." Zane commented.

"I discard Armed Dragon LV 3 to the graveyard, so... all your monsters with 1200 or less attack points... will be completely wiped out! Go, Serrated Sonic Disk, destroy! Destroy!" Armed Dragon LV 7 roared as its underbelly glowed blue, and then shot out two spinning disks of blue energy which struck down Avian and Bubbleman.

"Jaden, no!" Syrus exclaimed.

"This is bad." Matt said worriedly. "With no monsters to protect Jaden's life points, that dragon can end this with one strike."

"It's okay Jaden!" Sheppard called out. "You can still come back! Jaden it up!"

"Chazz it up! Chazz it up! Chazz it up!"

"Well, before Wroughtweiler goes belly up, his special ability gets to activate. One…" Jaden took a certain spell card and Burstinatrix from his graveyard slot. "that lets me bring Polymerization and an Elemental HERO to my hand."

"As if it'll matter you Duel Academy stooge!" Chazz retorted. "This duel's over! It's time for you... to go bye-bye! LV 7 Armed Dragon, attack Jaden directly with Dragon Talon Terror!" The giant dragon raised its right arm and swung it towards Jaden.

"Jaden!" Andrew called out.

"Not so fast there, Chazz!" Jaden pressed a button on his duel disk, making his facedown card flip up. "I play a trap, Hero Spirit!" And then, Avian appeared between Jaden and the dragons talons, taking the hit instead. The result of this was an explosion.

"What the…? How did …? Why didn't my attack go through!?" A shocked Chazz asked.

Jaden lifted his head as the smoke from the explosion cleared. "Didn't you know, Chazz? When a HERO is destroyed and Hero Spirit is on the field, all damage goes right down to zero, zip, zilch, nada."

"Congratulations, you could use a thesaurus." Chazz said before smirking. "But it'll take a lot more than words to beat my Armed Dragon. And a lot more than any pathetic monster you have!" He laughed. "Face it Jaden, you're toast!"

"I gotta get something started…" Jaden muttered as he drew his next card. And that card was a certain duel spirit.

 _"Coo."_

"Huh? Oh hey there, Kuriboh. Maybe you can help me get out of this jam." He then placed the card on his duel disk. "I summon Winged Kuriboh in defense mode!" His winged companion appeared with his claws protectively over his fur. (ATK: 300 **DEF: 200** LV: 1) "That'll do for now."

"Why'd you bring _him_ out, Jaden? You planning to dust around here or something?" Chazz taunted.

That comment caused Winged Kuriboh to squeak something angrily.

"What? Did I hurt his widdle feelings?"

At that moment, Ojama Yellow appeared next to Chazz's head. _"It's okay if you did, Boss. I mean, those furballs give me the creeps. Just look at them, all that hair. I mean, where did these monsters come from? So weird."_

"Get lost!" Chazz shot back. "If I want your opinion, I'll give it to you! You got that!?"

 _"I got it, Boss. Sorry."_ The spirit answered dejectedly as he floated behind his shoulder.

Even though the spirit was very small, Andrew was able to get a glimpse of it. And speaking of spirits, Phantom Magician appeared above him. _"Andrew, can you see it?"_

 _'Yeah. I didn't expect Chazz of all people to have a duel_ spirit.' He replied.

Jenny looked at Chazz and blinked. For some reason, she saw something... yellow. Alexis noticed her confused look.

"What's the matter?"

Jenny heard her and gave her an assured look. "Oh, it's nothing."

Winged Kuriboh hopped onto Jaden's left shoulder and pointed to Chazz while letting out hoots.

"What're you squeaking? Chazz's got a duel spirit?" Jaden turned back to Chazz and noticed the yellow spirit floating behind him. "Hey, I see him! So Chazz, who's your little friend?"

That question made Chazz briefly nervous before he waved his arms frantically at Ojama Yellow. "It's nothing! Just a figment of your imagination! Nothing to see here! No duel spirits at all! Leave me alone!" He managed to make the spirit disappear by catching him between his hands.

 _'Geez, that was overreactive.'_ Andrew thought.

 _"True, but then again, I can't really blame him_ though." Phantom Magician said. _"I myself met some of the Ojamas. And well… Let's just say they left a bad impression.'_

Andrew looked at him curiously before turning back to the duel.

"Now back to business! It's my turn!" Chazz drew a card. "And your Kuriboh's turn to get blasted!"

Winged Kuriboh glared at him, squeaking angrily again.

"Armed Dragon LV 7, attack, with Dragon Talon terror!" The mighty dragon raised its arm and brought its claws down, tearing through the furry duel spirit. "And I'll leave it at that."

"Wait, but, why didn't Chazz use his Armed Dragon's special ability?" Syrus asked, blinking in confusion.

"Because Kuriboih's would cancel it out." Bastion replied. "The turn in which he's destroyed, Jaden takes no damage."

"It would have been good if Chazz forgot about it and used his dragon's ability instead." Matt commented.

"My go now." Jaden drew a card and looked at it. He smirked. "Well, what do you know? Looks like I got this…" He revealed the new card. "The spell card, Legacy of a Hero!"

"Huh?" Shiori widened his eyes. "I've never seen Jaden use that card before."

"Me neither." Michael added. "I've only seen Andrew use it."

Andrew smiled. "That's because that card is a spare copy I had."

Everyone turned to him.

"For real?" Chumley asked.

Andrew nodded.

* * *

 **Flashback**

Andrew and Jaden were sitting at a table in the card shop and looked over their cards, preparing for the upcoming School Duel. Andrew had a bunch of spare cards from his wooden box on his left side.

"Alright! This will be perfect. I can't wait for the School Duel." Jaden said.

"Same here." Andrew replied. He then looked at one of the spare cards and picked it up. "But I think you might need something extra. Like this…" He handed Jaden a spell card in particular.

The Slifer widened his eyes when he recognized it. "Legacy of a Hero? Don't you use this card?"

"It's okay. That's a spare copy. Besides, one copy of that spell is more than enough for me."

Jaden smiled. "If you say so. Thanks."

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"And that's that." Andrew concluded.

They all nodded before turning back to the duel.

"Thanks to my Legacy of a Hero, if I have at least 2 level 4 or higher Elemental heroes in my graveyard, I get to draw three cards from my deck. Here's one…" He counted while drawing. "And here's two... and finally, card number three." He looked at the three extra cards. One of them in particular. "Alright, just the card to turn this duel around, and around and around."

"Say what?" Chazz asked confused.

"Here, see for yourself…" Jaden replied as he slid a card from his hand into his graveyard slot before inserting another card into his duel disk, making a spell card appear. "Go, Special Hurricane!"

"What the…!?"

"That's right. By discarding one card from my hand, I can use this spell card and destroy any monster on the field that was special summoned." A very strong whirlwind erupted from the spell card and collided with the Armed Dragon, making it explode.

"No way…!" Chazz glared at Jaden through the smoke. "It can't be!"

"Oh it be, alright." Jaden replied. "And now, you be in some big time trouble, because your best monster is off the field, and you're all alone on it."

"So lishus!" Chumley said. "Totally what I'd have done. You know, if I had those cards, and if Jaden were walking me through it step by step."

"That's all?" Bastion questioned him. "Maybe he should hold your hand as well?"

Everyone else chuckled at that.

"Way to play!" Syrus cheered. "Now follow through and take it to Chazz's life points, Jay!"

"You got it, Sy! I summon Elemental HERO Wildheart!" The muscular tribal hero appeared in front of Jaden. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1600 LV: 4) "And now Chazz, you're in for some heartbreak…" The Slifer stopped and thought about what he said. "Uhh… actually, that doesn't make any sense! Oh, just attack!" The hero jumped up in the air and drew his large sword, hitting Chazz with a downward slash that sent crashing back.

 **Chazz: 3600-2100**

"Whoa!" Xander gasped upon seeing Jaden take the lead.

"Ha ha! The prize is _so_ mine!" Sheppard said as he turned to Foster with a big grin on his face. "After all, looks like your boy is down for the count. Sooorry~!"

Foster growled and turned back to the duel. "Oh no he's not! Chazz, get up!"

"Chazz, get up!" The North Academy students repeated.

"Jagger, what does Chazz think he's doing?" Slade asked, obviously angry at their younger brother. "We've given him the best cards in the world, but he's not using them!"

"It's… my… turn…" Chazz panted as he slowly got up on his feet and drew his next card. "I play... a spell card, Graveyard in the Fourth Dimension! This baby lets me take two monsters from my graveyard and shuffle them right into my deck. Sure, they have to be special kind of monsters, but it's just the kind I need. My Armed Dragons!" He held up Armed Dragon LV 3 and 7 before shuffling them into his deck. "Oh, and I happen to have another one in my hand as well. I summon the Armed Dragon LV 3!" The dragon crouched down on Chazz's field in its level 3 form. (ATK: 1200 **DEF: 900** LV: 3)

"Chazz it up! Chazz it up!"

"Yeah…" He nodded, hearing his fans. "And now Jaden's about to be washed up! I'll place one card facedown and end my turn." He inserted a card into his duel disk. _'I have to win this. I can't let my brothers down!"_ He thought as the images of his brothers appeared in his mind.

 _"World domination is ours for the taking!"_

 _"You need to become Duel Monsters' best!"_

Chazz turned to the audience to see his brothers sitting a few yards away, looking at him intently.

"I'm trying!" He yelled.

"Uh... trying what?" Jaden asked, confused by his opponent's current behavior. "To weird me out? Hello? Earth to Chazz…" He then followed Chazz's line of sight to see the two men in dark suits. "That's right. His brothers..." He muttered.

* * *

 **Flashback**

"Come on! You got to show them that Chazz Princeton is no slacker! That you're worthy of the Princeton name! That you can win! Over and over! That you're the best!"

 **Flashback end**

* * *

 _'I almost forgot that Chazz's brothers are putting all the pressure on him. Poor guy. He's gotta realize that the only thing worth dueling for is fun.'_

"Jaden!" Syrus called out. "Come on, buddy. You gotta turn this duel around! You gotta show everyone what's up, Jay!"

"Wait a sec. That's it!" Jaden said. "I got to win this duel now. To show Chazz what dueling's really about. Alright, Jaden. It's time that you get your game on. Let's duel!"

"What do you think we've _been_ doing?" Chazz yelled back as the North Academy students laughed at the Slifer.

"Chazz it up! Go! Beat him!"

Jaden sighed before beginning his turn. "Alright, try cheering this!" He drew a card. "Wildheart, attack that Armed Dragon! Wild Slash!" The tribal hero charged forward and struck Chazz's dragon with his sword, making it explode.

"Thanks for that! Now I can play my trap…" Chazz's facedown card flipped up. "It's called The Grave of Enkindling. And since a monster was destroyed in battle, it lets us both take a monster from our graveyard and summon it to the field in defense mode. And I choose another Armed Dragon, and he's level 5." The level 5 version of the dragon let out a roar as it rose on the field, shielding with its arms. (ATK: 2400 **DEF: 1700** LV: 5)

"Grave of Enkindling made that way too easy." Syrus said. "It's practically unfair. Isn't there any drawback to using it?"

Bastion rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "If I recall correctly, by rule, the resurrected monster must remain in defense mode. Of course, that's really a mood point. After all, with LV 5's special ability, by discarding a monster from his hand to the graveyard, Chazz can destroy one of Jaden's monsters whose attack points are less or equal to the monster Chazz discarded."

"Which means Jaden won't be completely safe." Clover said.

"Maybe, but since that dragon's ability can only destroy one monster at the time, he might survive long enough to get through it." Andrew replied.

"Well, what're you waiting for?" Chazz asked. "Resurrect! Take a monster out of your graveyard. But let me tell you, it's gonna be a round trip!"

"Uh, monster? Sorry, but I think you mean _monsters_." Jaden corrected.

Chazz just scoffed. "Please, what are you talking about? That Grave of Enkindling only lets you bring one monster back."

"What's he planning?" Bastion asked as he and the others were wondering what Jaden was up to.

"I bring back Hero Kid from the graveyard!"

"What the…?" Chazz said in shock.

"Huh? A kid?" Slade asked.

A young boy wearing a red and white astronaut like suit with a dome helmet and wearing a red eye mask flipped onto the field. (ATK: 300 **DEF: 600** LV: 2)

" _He_ wasn't in your graveyard, Jaden!" Chazz protested.

Jaden smirked. "Think again..."

* * *

 **Flashback**

"That's right. By discarding one card from my hand, I can use this spell card."

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"Oh yeah." Chazz scowled at the memory.

"And like I said, it's not just him, cuz when Hero Kid is special summoned, just like he was by that Grave of Enkindling, well then Chazz, I get to call out every other Hero Kid that I have in my deck." Two more young boys, identical to the first one, appeared on the field, crouching. (ATK: 300 **DEF: 600** LV: 2) x2 "And now, I'll throw down two facedowns and call it a turn." Two cards appeared behind Jaden's monsters.

Chazz smirked. "I see, by playing three monsters, you think I'll have to discard three cards to destroy them, right? You wish! I don't have to discard of three cards, I just have to play one."

"Okay, this is bad." Syrus whimpered.

"That's for sure." Michael replied.

"Wait, one!? I don't like the sound of this one bit." Sheppard said worriedly.

"Alright, here goes." Chazz drew a card. "I activate the spell card Level Up!" The image of the named card appeared.

"Uh oh." Jaden widened his eyes.

"What's Level Up do?" Sheppard asked.

"Wow, guess it's true. Those who can't duel teach. What it does is let me level up a monster. And I choose... Armed Dragon! Now, LV 7!" The dragon's body glowed as it morphed into its level 7 form. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 1000 LV: 7) Chazz was laughing maniacally.

"Yes!" Slade said as he and Jagger smiled at their brother's comeback.

"Yes!" Foster said, smirking at this turn of events.

"No!" Zane leaned forward. "With that, Chazz can destroy all of Jaden's monsters again."

Syrus was trembling nervously.

And Andrew was gritting his teeth.

"Chazz it up! Chazz it up! Chaaazz it uuup!"

"I've been waiting for a long time to tell you this, Jaden. So listen up! I got my game on! And I'm about to turn yours off!"

The huge dragon roared and flexed its claws. The camera crews circled the platform, the film still going.

"That's it baby!" One of the members said into his megaphone. "The whole world's watching you shine!"

Chazz smirked. "Then they better watch as I take this duel _and_ my Armed Dragon to the highest level!"

"Say what!?" Jaden exclaimed.

"Are you kidding me!? LV 7 isn't the highest!?" Shiori asked in shock.

"Apparently not." Jenny grimaced.

"I sacrifice my LV 7 dragon in order to summon its ultimate form… The almighty Armed Dragon 10!" In a very bright flash, the giant dragon evolved and became much more bigger. It was now wearing black and silver metal armor covered most of its red body. From its head to shoulders and its front. All the sharp blades became sharper and the claws were longer. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 2000 LV: 10)

"Oh my god." Xander said staring widely from his spot.

"LV 10!?" Andrew gasped.

"The highest I've seen was 7!" Clover added.

"Not anymore, apparently." Matt replied.

"Man, and I thought it was bigger before." Jaden muttered.

"Well, you couldn't be more wrong." Chazz responded. " _And..._ my Armed Dragon's special ability is even bigger than before. Now I can destroy all monsters you have on the field by discarding _any_ card I want from my hand."

"Any card!?" Jenny exclaimed.

"Oh no!" Alexis gasped.

"This is bad!" Andrew said.

"That ability will crush any monster, regardless the attack points." Zane added.

Chazz slid a card into his graveyard slot. "Now Armed Dragon, crush his monsters with Hyper Sonic Roar!" The giant dragon inhaled and then let out a powerful roar, creating a sound wave that blew away all of Jaden's monsters. And once again, Chazz laughed maniacally. "Looks like your Hero Kid just got grounded!" He laughed at his joke. "Grounded up! He he he! Tell you what. If you surrender now, I promise not to embarrass you…. on global TV! Wait, I already did!" He then laughed even more.

"Hey, it's not _that_ funny." Syrus said.

"Well, this situation isn't funny either." Shiori said. "Now with all those monsters gone, Jaden is wide open for a direct attack."

"i hope you're ready, Jaden. Because this duel is mine! Armed Dragon LV 10, attack him directly with Static Orb Thrust!" The Armed Dragon created a ball of sizzling black and purple energy in the palm of its hand and threw it away. The orb flew in Jaden's direction with high speed.

"Jaden!" Andrew called out.

"I play my trap…" One of Jaden's facedown cards flipped up. "Call of the Haunted! And just like you, I'll use this to bring back a monster from my graveyard. So let's all welcome back... Elemental HERO Sparkman!" At that, the blue and golden hero appeared on the field again. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1400 LV: 4)

"Fine, then I'll just crush him, instead!" The electric orb collided with the electric hero and created an explosion that took away most of Jaden's life points.

 **Jaden: 1600-0200**

"Whoa! That was close." Chumley said.

"Tell me about it." Michael replied.

"Jaden! Keep fighting, don't give up!" Sheppard called out.

"Who's giving up?" Jaden asked with a smirk. "I mean, I'm having way too much fun to give up. After all, that's what dueling's all about. Win or lose, cuz if you're having fun, you win every time."

"Gag me." Chazz scoffed.

"It's true. If I can have fun right now losing, shouldn't you be able to winning? It's seriously not that hard. Despite what your brothers may want you to believe."

"What!? What do you know about my brothers!?" Chazz snapped at him.

"Well, for starters Chazz, I know they're the ones you're dueling for. And the ones putting all this pressure on you too." He paused as Chazz growled. "Oh come on, Chazz. Remember when you dueled for the excitement of it?"

"…I only duel to win…"

"Well, we'll see where that gets you!" Jaden drew his next card and looked at it. "I play The Warrior Returning Alive! Now I can bring a warrior back from the grave and to my hand. And I think I'll choose, my favorite feathered friend, Elemental HERO Avian." He took the named card from his graveyard before he held it up, along with the rest of the cards in his hands. "And then, with Polymerization and Burstinatrix, I'll make, the Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!" The two heroes merged and created Jaden's headliner. ( **ATK: 2100** DEF: 1200 LV: 6)

"So? He doesn't stand a chance against my monster. After all, the Armed Dragon LV 10 has 3000 attack points. You're way outmatched!"

"Wrong, Chazz." Jaden smiled. "Cuz I'm inviting my three Hero kids to come back out and play." Many people were surprised by this statement.

"To play?" Chazz asked confused.

"Yeah... with your points! I play Miracle Kids!" Jaden's facedown card flipped up. Here's how it works. For every Hero Kid I've got in the grave, your Armed Dragon loses 400 attack points. And since I have 3, Armed Dragon's attack points decrease by 1200." The spirits of the Hero Kids came out of the trap card and lunged at the dragon, fading upon contact. And not too long after that, it became weaker. ( **ATK: 3000-1800** )

Chazz gasped.

"Now who's outmatched? Actually, don't answer that, Flame Wingman will for ya!" The named hero fired a stream of flames from his dragon head arm that engulfed the giant dragon.

"Ahh! Chazz is gonna lose!" The man with the megaphone exclaimed. "Cut the Transmission! Cut it right now!"

* * *

TV screens all around the world that were showing the duel went blank, to the disappointment of the countless people watching. And just a second later, they were showing a newswoman with short hair. "Um… hello. We interrupt this duel for a special news... bulletin to report that everything's fine."

* * *

Chazz screamed as his Armed Dragon was destroyed by the flames of the Flame Wingman.

 **Chazz: 2100-1800**

"Alright! Jaden just took out the Armed Dragon with just one attack!" Syrus cheered.

"And the assault's not over yet, Syrus." Bastion replied. "The Flame Wingman still has his super power. It comes next."

"Yeah, and it's gonna really burn Chazz." Alexis commented. "His life points will now take damage equal to his destroyed monster's attack points. 1800."

"NOOOOO!" Chazz screamed to the loss of points.

 **Chazz: 1800-0000**

The Duel Academy students cheered wildly for Jaden's victory.

"That's game!" Jaden did his signature victory pose.

"Alright, Jaden!" Matt cheered.

"Awesome!" Shiori exclaimed.

"Great job, dude!" Michael added.

"Nice." Jenny said.

"I knew Jaden would pull it through." Andrew said with a smile.

Despite the result, Clover was smiling as well. "Well, I am quite disappointed that North Academy lost, but I gotta admit, this duel was amazing."

Even Xander was impressed. "Wow! I didn't see that coming. Huh?" He then noticed two people approaching Chazz.

And even though he was on his hands and knees, staring the floor, he could see two pairs of black shoes. And he didn't have to look up to know who they belonged to. "You loser! You dog! You've disgraced yourself! You've disgraced the Princeton name!" Slade said angrily.

"You are no brother of ours anymore!" Jagger added.

"Just give me... another chance." Chazz begged.

"Another Chance!?" Jagger repeated. "Do you know how much we spent on this duel!?"

"The cameras, the rare cards, none of which you used, I might add!" Slade jabbed.

"Sorry, I thought I could win this by myself."

"Yourself!" Jagger grabbed Chazz by the front of his shirt and held him up in front of his face.

"When could you do _anything_ by yourself, Chazz!?"

"Let him go!" The two older Princetons only had time to turn to Andrew, before he grabbed Jagger's arm and pushed him away, causing him to lose his grip on Chazz.

Xander, who just arrived, approached him. "You okay, Chazz?"

"I'm fine." He said dejectedly.

The two older Princetons glared at Andrew, who glared at them back. "You two have no right to treat Chazz like that!"

"Why you…" Slade said.

"I think you two have done enough!" They turned to Jaden, who was standing in front of the rest of the gang. "Yeah sure, he lost. But how could he not with you two jerks breathing down his neck?"

Jagger glared at him. "Two jerks? Do you have any idea who we are!? We could have you crushed, kid!"

That statement got Crowler's attention, as he was listening at the edge of the platform. "Oh my. They could have Jaden crushed? Maybe these two aren't so bad after all."

"Why defend Chazz anyhow?" Slade asked. "He's a nobody now. Disowned by us. And by the whole world! I mean, the cameras caught enough of it! He got schooled, he got mocked off."

"That's right! And then worst of all, he got beat!" Jagger added.

"Wrong…" Jaden countered with shoulders shaking.. "There's one fight he did win. The fight... against you two! Sure, Chazz may not have won the duel, but hey, at least he fought it on his own terms. It's like he said, he used his cards, not what your money could buy!"

"Right on, Jaden!" Crowler said, with tear filled eyes. "I mean... you no good Slifer Slacker."

Jaden turned to Chazz. "Tight duel, Chazz. And I know it's cheesy, but I think the truth of it is, we both won here."

"You're just saying that." Chazz said, with his head, facing the floor. "I mean, come on. Nobody else believes that."

But not too long after Chazz said those words...

"We do, Chazz!" A North Academy student called out.

"Same here!" A Duel Academy student added.

And then, the whole place was filled with chant from all students from both schools, some of them with tears coming from their eyes.

"Yeah! Chazz it up! Chazz it up! Chazz it up! Chazz it up! Chazz it up!"

While everyone was cheering, Slade and Jagger looked around in anger. "I don't have time for this garbage!" The former said as they both left the arena.

* * *

Later that evening, as the sun begun to set, Chazz stood on a small cliff, and watched his brothers' helicopters fly off into the distance. It was clear as the day that he was not longer a Princeton in their eyes.

 _'Guess now there's just one last matter to settle.'_ He thought.

* * *

And now, everyone was on the docks, with all North Academy students on the submarine, ready to take off. However, there were two students who weren't aboard. One of them was Clover, who was talking to Andrew. The other one was Chazz, who was standing in front of all Duel Academy students, with Jaden speaking to him.

"Well Chazz, I guess this is goodbye. Now don't forget to write."

"Jaden, I'm not going back." Chazz responded, getting a surprised look from his rival, and horrified gasps from many of the North Academy students. He looked over his shoulder to his newest schoolmates. "Look guys, I don't belong with you."

"Then where do you belong?" Czar asked confused.

"Right here. Duel Academy was always my home."

"But you're our best duelist, Chazz! You sure?"

"I am." Chazz turned back to face his former Chancellor. "If Chancellor Sheppard will have me back that is."

Sheppard smiled warmly. "Well Chazz, you were one of the best students we had. How could I say no?"

"That was unexpected." Andrew commented.

"Tell me about it." Clover replied.

He then faced his childhood friend. "Well, it was nice to see you again, Clover. I'm looking forward for our rematch. You better take care of yourself." He then held out his hand for a handshake.

Clover stared at it for a moment before closing her eyes, making Andrew confused.

"What's wrong?"

She spoke up. "I think we'll have our rematch sooner than you think…" She then opened her eyes and looked up with a smirk. "Because I've decided to stay here at Duel Academy!"

"What!?" Andrew exclaimed.

"WHAT!?" The NA students yelled.

"For real?" Jaden asked, surprised by this as well.

"You heard me." Clover said, facing Andrew. "Since we were kids, you and I have always dueled each other and always enjoyed it, no matter who won or lost. And most important, you're the closest friend I ever had, and it hasn't been the same without you. So therefore, I'm staying here."

Andrew was more or less speechless. He never thought that Clover would decide to transfer here. But, he was happy for that. He finally snapped out of his shock and smiled. "You know what, fine by me. Glad to have you here!"

Clover smiled. "Thanks."

"She's not the only one who transfers here." Someone spoke up. Everyone turned to see Xander with his arms crossed over his chest. "I'm joining Duel Academy as well."

"For real?" Andrew asked in shock.

Clover nodded. "It's true."

"And you're joining our school because…?" Jaden asked.

"Well, mostly because out of all North Academy students, Clover is the only one who actually treated me like a friend. All the others never showed me some respect. Apparently, they found my mechanic talents nerdy. Not really a fun experience."

"You don't say." Bastion say.

"Oh right, I almost forgot about that." Foster muttered as he pulled out some papers from his pocket and handed them to Sheppard. "Here you have it."

The DA chancellor examined the papers and nodded. "Yes, everything's fine." He then turned to Xander and Clover. "Then let me welcome you both to Duel Academy."

"Thank you, sir." They both replied.

"Um, doesn't Chazz need some paper forms for this as well?" Shiori asked confused.

"Oh, that won't be a problem." Sheppard said assuringly.

"Guess I'll be going." Foster said.

"May I have your attention, please?" They all turned around to see Crowler on a stage erected nearby, speaking in the microphone. "And now, to present the prize in this year's match between North Academy and our esteemed university, I give you the most beautiful woman on the island, Miss Duel Academy!"

At those words, almost every male student rushed the stage.

"Whoa! Sounds hot!" Jaden said.

"Jay, be my wingman, okay?" Syrus said, standing right next to him.

"Hmm." Even though Andrew didn't rush the stage like the rest of the boys, he was really curious about this Miss Duel Academy.

Jenny noticed this and pouted at him cutely. And Clover, who noticed his reaction as well, let her left eye twitch as if annoyed.

"Here she is!" Crowler announced as the woman in question rose from the stage. But to everyone's disappointment and slight horror, Miss Duel Academy turned out to be the card shop owner Dorothy, wearing an orange dress and make up.

"DOROTHY'S MISS DUEL ACADEMY!" Jaden exclaimed.

Even Andrew was freaked out upon seeing here. "W-what the…?"

Jenyy couldn't help but giggle at Andrew's reaction while Clover burst out in laughter.

"Will the winning chancellor please approach the stage?" Sheppard walked up to the stage and stood next to Dorothy. And then, she planted a kiss on his cheek.

"A kiss!? That's the big prize you two were talking about?" Jaden asked incredulously.

The sight of this made Foster cry loudly. "I can't bear to watch! Wait for me! I'll be back next year, my lady!" at that, he ran to the sub, tears streaking down his face literally.

"That's a chick?" Chazz asked in confusion.

After the North Academy people all got on their sub, they pulled back the bridge and pushed off. "Bye Chazz!"

"Don't worry Foster!" Sheppard called out. "I'll take good care of her for you!"

This cause Foster to cry ut even more.

"We'll miss you, Chazz!" Czar called out, with tears falling from his eyes as well.

"Just one last cheer!" Kyle proposed.

"Chazz it up! Chazz it up! Chazz it up! Chazz it up!"

"See you next year!"

The Duel Academy people, including Clover and Xander, watched as the sub drifted away.

It was then Sheppard broke the silence. "There is one thing, Chazz."

"What's that?" The Princeton asked.

"Banner?"

The Slifer Headmaster approached Chazz. "Since you dropped out of Duel Academy and are now coming back, you are technically a new student. And therefore must start from the bottom, at Slifer Red."

"Slifer!?" Chazz exclaimed.

"Yes. Welcome. We'll get you fitted for a blazer as soon as we get back to the dorm. Then, we'll find you a roommate."

"Roommate!? Look here! Chazz Princeton rooms alone! You guys got that!?"

"Alone, huh? Do cockroaches count?" Syrus asked.

"What!?"

"The dorm's got a few." Jaden said. "And some rats"

"RATS!"

"Rats, huh?" Xander said. "I've seen plenty of them in the junkyard back home, so I think I'll manage."

"I don't know if I can deal with that." Clover said, slightly unsettled by the thoughts of having some rodents walking around in her bedroom.

It was then Miss Fontaine approached her, smiling brightly. "Oh, you don't have to worry about that so much. Since all female students are traditionally Obelisk Blue, we have a special school rule for female transfer students. They stay at the Slifer dorm for a little while. And then, they become Obelisk students after passing a special test. Both written _and_ practical."

That seemed to calm Clover down. "Oh, okay."

Chazz however, started to lose it due to his situation. "I CHANGED MY MIND! TURN THE SUB AROUND!"

Laughing, Jaden turned to the others. "Guys, how about we give him the Slifer cheer?"

Chazz looked at him with very annoyed look on his face. "I don't want it!"

"S-L-I-F-E-!" They, minus Chazz, chanted.

"Can't we just stick with Chazz it up!?" Chazz begged.

"Or Slifer it up!" They all then surrounded him for a group hug.

Chazz groaned as he sat on the ground, covering his head with his arms. "This stinks! My new family is already dysfunctional!"

They all laughed. Andrew found this end of the day very exciting. _'Well, this School Duel couldn't end in better way.'_ He then glanced at Clover and Xander who was also laughing. _'Especially with our new addition here_ _.'_

While the Duel Academy people were laughing, Foster called out from the submarine. "Dorothy my dear, I'll come back for you! I'll come back!"

* * *

 **And the School Duel is over. Now then, normally, the Shadow Riders arc is what comes after this. But... during the time I've been writing up to this point, I was thinking about writing about a special adventure first. To be honest, I haven't decided how many chapters that adventure will have. Maybe 3-4? I don't know. But I'm going to write it. So, until next time.**


	35. Chapter 35

**School Field Trip: A Kingdom of Dueling**

It's been two weeks since the School Duel took place at Duel Academy. Everything was as normal as it usually was around here. Except for the fact that Chazz returned to the Duel Academy, along with Clover and Xander, who became new students here. Speaking of whom, this is how things were settled for them at the Slifer Red Dorm...

* * *

 **Flashback**

"And here's your new home!" Jaden announced. He, along with his roommates, plus Matt led Clover and Xander to the Slifer Dorm building. And of course, they couldn't help but sweat drop at its cheap appearance.

"Is this really a dorm?" Clover asked

"It looks like an outhouse." Xander added.

"Yeah, we've heard that before." Matt replied.

"Sure, it may not look fancy like the other dorms, but we're still the best." Jaden jumped in.

After that, they were led to the Slifer dorm so they could have dinner...

* * *

And... Clover and Xander couldn't help but blink at the trays with rice, sardines with some kind of sauce and chopsticks.

"Okay, I know this dorm is the lowest ranked, but this is ridiculous." Xander commented.

"Tell me about it." Clover replied as she sat next to him.

"Nah, it's not that bad." Jaden said with his mouth full of his own food.

Chazz, who sat alone at the corner, gave his own plate a disgusted look. "Yeah right, like anyone with the right mind would call this food."

"Well, if you don't want it, then let me have it." Jaden suggested.

"In your dreams, Slacker!"

Clover shook her head at their antics and picked up the chopsticks. "Meh, we'd better take it." She then took a bite from the fish, getting a good taste of it and then shrugged. "Not bad."

Xander followed suit and said "Not bad at all."

And so, they all enjoyed the dinner peacefully, except for Jaden, who was eating like crazy. Afterward, Clover and Xander just stepped away from their table when Professor Banner approached them, holding two Slifer Red jackets.

"Now then, since you two are about live here, you might need these." He said as he handed them the uniforms.

"That's a nice jacket." Xander said as he examined it before putting it on. He looked at himself and smiled. "Not too shabby."

Clover stared at her own Slifer jacket before she took off her personal jacket, revealing her white t-shirt. Some of the other Slifer students blushed slightly upon seeing her feminine figure. She put the Slifer jacket on and looked at herself. She then hummed thoughtfully before speaking up. "It's pretty okay, but I think I prefer my own jacket."

Banner gave her a nod. "Well, since your personal jacket is red, it will make it clear that you're a Slifer Red student."

Clover nodded as she took off the Slifer jacket and put on her own jacket again.

"Alright, that just leaves Chazz…" Banner said before the named boy spoke up.

"Forget it! It's bad enough that I have to live here. I'm not gonna dress like a Slifer!"

Clover rolled her eyes. "Fine, you don't have to. It won't hurt if you just lighten up."

"Hmph." Chazz just turned away

Banner sweat dropped at this. "My… Anyway, all that's left is to find you rooms."

Matt approached the headmaster. "Well, I still have two bed-bunks to spare. They can share my room with me." He offered.

Chazz scoffed. "Like I told you, The Chazz rooms alone. No way I'm gonna sleep with Slackers."

Matt started to get annoyed and was about to approach him before Clover held up her right arm and stopped him. "Fine, you don't have to. Me and Xander will share Matt's room.

Banner looked at her curiously while Matt and Xander looked at her surprised.

"Seriously?" The flip duelist said.

"Are you sure it's okay for you to share a room with us?" Xander asked. "I mean, you're a girl."

"It's fine. I don't mind that much." Clover assured them.

Banner nodded. "Okay, if that's the case, then Clover and Xander will settle in with Matt."

Matt and Xander looked at each other before shrugging, thinking. _'Eh, why not?'_

They then turned and almost flinched when Clover gave them a stern look. "Just don't try to peek on me when I'm getting dressed, got it?"

The boys nodded nervously. "Yes, ma'am."

 **Flashback end**

* * *

Now, moving on to the present day, all students were gathered in one large classroom. Why? Because Chancellor Sheppard was going to give them an announcement. And thus, he was standing in front of them, along with the other faculty members.

"Good morning students!" He greeted. "Now with everyone here, allow me tell you something important. We have decided where we'll go to on the school field trip."

That caused some of the students whisper to each other, wondering where they'll be going.

Jaden, who was sitting with Syrus and Chumley next to him, and Matt, Xander and Clover behind him, was very excited. "Sweet! I love field trips! Where will it be? Circus? Carnival?"

Xander sweat dropped at his behavior. "Why don't you let him speak?"

Clover shook her head, almost annoyed. "Seriously."

Andrew, who was sitting a bit away, along with Shiori was a little amused by this.

Sheppard spoke up again. "The place where we're going to, is the home of a man who is one of the few duelists who knows the game of Duel Monsters better than any other. The very person who is the creator of the game." He smiled as he spoke. "That's right everyone, we're going to Duelist Kingdom! The home of Maximillion Pegasus himself!"

That announcement earned him cheers from many students. Including Jaden.

"Duelist Kingdom!? That's even better!"

"That's the place where Yugi defeated Pegasus." Syrus added.

"Yeah." Chumley replied.

"Never thought I would visit the creator of Duel Monsters." Xander admitted.

"Same here." Clover said, being intrigued like the rest.

"Duelist Kingdom." Andrew mused. "I always wanted to visit there."

"Me too." Shiori replied. "Duelist Kingdom is the place where Yugi participated his very first Duel Monsters tournament."

Sheppard spoke up once more. "The trip to Duelist Kingdom will be long. The ships will take off tonight, so we'll be arriving tomorrow morning. So we'll give you all a day off today to give you time to prepare for the journey. That's all." He dismissed as he and the faculty members left, letting the students leave the classroom.

* * *

Later that night, there were three ships that took off from Academy Island. Enough for all Duel Academy people. Some people were standing on the front of the ship, enjoying the view. Although... not everyone was able to enjoy it.

"Uuuugh." Bastion moaned as he was leaning over the side of one of the ships, covering his mouth with his right hand while having a pale face.

"Man, you don't look so well, Bastion." Shiori commented as he, Andrew, Matt and Michael accompanied him.

"I guess he's not used to boat trips." Matt assumed.

"Too bad he's not like me." Michael said. "I've been taking countless boat trips since I was little. Good thing to be the son of the CEO of Kageyama Cruises."

Andrew looked at him curiously. "Kageyama Cruises?"

"It's a company my dad owns. It has a bunch of cruise ships used for taking customers to journeys around the world."

Matt whistled at that. "Then you must have been on lots of vacations on the sea."

Michael grinned. "If only you knew."

Andrew decided to move further on the front of the ship. He noticed Jenny, Xander and Clover standing nearby and decided to greet them. "What's up, guys?"

They turned around and greeted back. "Hey Andrew."

"Yo." Xander greeted.

"How's it going?" Clover asked.

"Pretty fine. And you?"

"Same here."

"So, how do you like Duel Academy so far." Andrew asked Clover and Xander.

The mechanic responded. "Well, pretty okay. The weather is much better than in north."

"Yeah, and I'm relieved that there are more female students here than at North Academy." Clover added.

"Too bad most of them are always looking down on the students from the lower ranks." Xander said.

Jenny nodded. "Yeah, it's just frustrating how they always underestimate them."

"Don't worry. I won't let them bother me too much." Clover said.

"I hope so." Xander said with a sweat drop at his head. "Because you didn't have so much control of yourself last week...

* * *

 **Flashback**

Clover and Xander were walking through the halls, heading to the upcoming lesson. But on their way, they were approached by three Obelisk Blue boys. The one in the middle had short black hair. His two companions had gray, messy hair and white spiky hair.

"Well, look at her, boys. New meat." The black-haired boy said with a grin on his face.

"Hey, get out of our way." Xander said with slight anger.

"You're not our boss, Slifer Slacker." The white-haired boy insulted.

Clover, who also became angry, stepped forward. "He said move!"

"Ooh, and what if we refuse, you punk?" The gray-haired boy said as he poked Clover in the chest... and was confused by how soft it was. "Wait, what…" Was all he said before he noticed Clover's face being red with anger...

"PERVERT!"

POW!

And then earned a punch in the face that sent him flying a few meters away from the group. The other two Obelisks looked at their fallen comrade before turning back to the two Slifer students, specifically Clover. They then gulped as they suddenly remember now. This was the North Academy girl who dueled Andrew at the School Duel. When Clover gave them a glare, they quickly grabbed their friend and ran off.

Clover then huffed. "Jerks."

Xander did nothing but smiled nervously.

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"I can't say I'm surprised." Andrew said dryly.

Clover blushed embarrassed. "I couldn't help it. That guy shouldn't have touched me like that."

"Fair enough." Xander replied.

Jenny gave her a sympathetic look before she looked back to the sea. It was a beautiful view. Seeing the stars reflect the black water's surface made her smile. "It's a very nice night, isn't it?"

Andrew, Xander and Clover smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it really is." The former replied.

The fairy duelist then felt the icy cold wind blow through her, causing her to shudder a little. "Although, it is kinda cold."

Andrew turned to her for a moment before he removed his Ra jacket and wrapped it around her. "Here you go." With the absence of his jacket, he was wearing a black shirt.

Jenny's eyes widened a little before she registered what Andrew did and blushed lightly. "Thanks." She muttered.

Clover watched this with a tick mark at her head and her left eye twitching.

* * *

The journey continued peacefully. Even though it was early in the morning, a number of students were awake. While enjoying the view, the noticed an island coming up in the distance. That island was definitely the one they were heading to: Duelist Kingdom. It looked pretty big, even from a mile out. When the ships pulled up and docked, something interesting could be seen from a distance... A castle standing on a cliff. It looked like an old castle from Europe.

As everyone walked down the boat ramps, Jaden pumped his right fist in the air. "Alright! We're here!"

"Finally." Chumley said.

"Duelist Kingdom. It's even bigger than I thought." Syrus added, admiring the sight of the island.

"You said it." Matt said.

"I wonder if Pegasus still has those dueling arenas that were used during the Duelist Kingdom tournament." Xander said.

"I'm pretty sure he does." Clover replied.

Alexis and Jenny nodded. The latter looked around and couldn't help but ask one question. "Have you guys seen Andrew?"

"Coming right here!" Everyone turned around to see Andrew and Shiori holding up Bastion who was rubbing his stomach and groaned. Michael was following the trio.

"Finally, it's over." The intelligent Ra muttered.

"There there." Shiori said as he rubbed his back.

"Poor guy could hardly sleep due to his seasickness." Michael said.

"You don't say." Alexis said as she sweat dropped at this.

"May I have your attention?" Sheppard's voice called out. All students turned to see him standing in front of them, with the other faculty members standing behind him. "As you all know, we're about to spend the whole day here at Duelist Kingdom. And what's the schedule for the day? Well, that's something what our host is going to tell us. Now follow me." At that, everyone followed him to a staircase that was ( **conveniently** ) leading from the docks right to the castle.

On the way up, some of the students enjoyed the view.

"Wow! This is amazing." A Ra Yellow boy said.

"Yeah. To think we're actually here." Another one replied.

"What a beautiful island." And Obelisk girl commented.

Eventually, the Duel Academy people reached the gates of the castle, where a bunch of men in black suits were waiting for them. One of them stepped forward and spoke up. "Attention Duel Academy students! Please gather around. With all of you here, it's time to meet your host. The creator of Duel Monsters: Maximillion Pegasus!" Everyone looked up on the balcony of the castle as the person in question came up to it. A man with long, platinum hair, dressed in a red, three-piece suit with a white shirt underneath. The moment Pegasus showed himself, everyone cheered for him.

"Greetings, students of Duel Academy. Welcome to Duelist Kingdom." He greeted with a genuine smile. "It is an honor for me to invite potential duelists to my humble home. Now, during this day, you are about to spend time here to explore the island." He pointed straight at them. "Of course, where's the fun in that if you don't find a duelist's kind of entertainment? As you boys and girls probably know, this island was once the place where I hosted the Duelist Kingdom tournament. For that event, dueling arenas were set up throughout the entire island, placed on specific places for special rules. But nowadays, they are programmed for being used in duels with the modern rules. Meaning... that anyone who wants to duel a fellow student can use one of those dueling arenas for dueling!"

That information made many students react excitedly, some saying things like 'Oh yeah' or 'Awesome'.

"Sweet! I always wanted to use one of those arenas!" Jaden said.

"Me too." Xander replied. "This will be awesome."

Pegasus spoke up again. "Of course, there will be some food stands in several places on the island. A duelist can't fight on an empty stomach, right? And who knows? There might other surprises here. But until then, I once again welcome you all to Duelist Kingdom. Have fun.~" He dismissed as everyone cheered again before he returned inside the castle.

* * *

At that, everyone climbed down the stairs and walked around the island. The gang walked to a meadow area and saw other students using dueling arenas. Each arena was half red and half blue with two podiums and and stands unfolded, as well as four holo projection towers on each corner. The podiums contained a tray similar to a duel mat that duelists would use instead of duel disks, as well as counters for the life points and view screens to show the opponent's tray.

"Wow! They sure don't waste time to take dueling arenas." Andrew commented.

"No surprise there. They really want to test them out." Michael added.

"Well, we all do." Matt replied.

Clover stepped forward and turned her from side to side, trying to find an arena they could use. "We better find one, I want to have our rematch."

Andrew smirked at her. "Oh yeah? Are you that eager to lose again?" He asked teasingly.

Clover turned to him with a smirk. "I'm more like eager to kick your butt."

As they bickered, everyone else watched the scene with in amusement.

"I know that Clover has been Andrew's rival since their childhood, but it's still hard to believe he would act like this." Shiori commented.

"Guess Clover is the only one who has that effect on him." Jaden assumed.

"Most likely." Bastion added.

Matt turned around and noticed something from a distance. Another dueling arena, and no one was using it right now. "Hey guys, look! We can use that one!"

The rest of gang turned around and saw the arena he was indicating to.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Clover said as she grabbed Andrew's right hand dragged him to it.

"H-hey! Take it easy Clover! We're not in a hurry!" He said, trying to slow her down.

Jenny watched this and couldn't help but puff her cheeks in anger upon seeing them hold hands.

While the rest of the gang walked over to the side of the arena, Andrew and Clover took their positions on the podiums. Clover on the red one, and Andrew on the blue one.

"And once again, the battle between the masked hero and the dragon slayer is about to begin." Jaden said jokingly.

"This will be good." Michael said.

Once the platforms raised the duelists to the top of the podiums, they placed their decks on the trays.

"Now then, are you ready?" Clover asked.

"You have to ask?" Andrew replied.

"Then let's do this!" Clover declared as they both drew five cards and their life point counters were set to 4000.

"Duel!"

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Clover: 4000**

"I'll go first!" Clover declared and drew her sixth card. "And I'll start by summoning BOXer in attack mode!" The moment she placed the card on the table, a monster with a unique form appeared on the field. It was a humanoid figure with a body that was entirely made of a bunch of boxes. Its head had green, glowing eyes and a small gap that was its mouth. It had a pair of shorts that were made of grey boxes, and big, red boxes that were used as boxing gloves. ( **ATK: 1800** DEF: 1000 LV: 4)

"A boxer…?" Syrus wondered.

"With a body made of boxes?" Chumley added.

Jaden couldn't help but grin at that realization. "Ha ha, that's kinda funny. Box, boxer."

The others sighed at his words.

"I place a card facedown and end my turn." Clover concluded as she placed another card on the table, making a facedown card appear behind her monster.

"My move." Andrew drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Heat in attack mode." The white and red armored fire hero appeared on the field. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "As you know, this monster gains 200 attack points for every Elemental HERO on my field, including himself." ( **ATK: 1600-1800** ) "Then I'll place one card facedown." A card appeared behind the hero. "And with that, I'll end my turn…"

"Activate trap card!" Clover called out as her own facedown card flipped up. "Dust Tornado!"

"What?" Andrew said.

"With this, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field, and there's only one it can destroy." A tornado appeared and blew away Andrew's facedown card.

"Whoops. There goes Andrew's facedown card." Shiori commented.

"Yes. Clover was expecting him to play at least one facedown card for protection." Bastion noted.

"Sorry Andrew." Clover said with a smirk. "But you won't get away that easily." She then drew her next card. "I summon Obnoxious Celtic Guardian in attack mode!" The elven warrior appeared next to the box monster. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Then I activate the spell card Banner of Courage." The named card appeared behind BOXer. "With this on the field, my monsters' attack points are temporarily increased by 200 during my battle phase." ( **ATK: 1800-2000** ) ( **ATK: 1400-1600** ) "Now BOXer, attack his Heat!" The box monster reared back its right fist and gave the fire hero a strong, right hook on his face, knocking him out.

 **Andrew: 4000-3800**

After the boxer returned to Clover's side, a small, glowing dot appeared on its chest. "And now, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, attack Andrew with Silver Blade Strike!" The elven warrior jumped in the air and then landed in front of Andrew before striking him with his sword.

 **Andrew: 3800-2200**

"I end my turn with a facedown." She concluded as she placed a card on the table.

"I draw." Andrew said and drew a card. "I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman in attack mode." The flame-headed hero in red armor rose up on the field. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "With him summoned, I can take a Polymerization from my deck and add it to my hand." Andrew searched through his deck and took the card he found. "And now I'll use it to fuse Knospe and Burstinatrix to form Elemental HERO Gaia." The red clad female hero merged with the tiny plant hero, and in there place, rose the black armored giant next to Blazeman. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF: 2600 LV: 6) "And now his special ability activates. After he's fusion summoned, Gaia absorbs half the attack strength from one of your monsters until the end of this turn. And I choose your Obnoxious Celtic Guardian." The giant held up his right and palm and absorbed energy from the elven warrior. ( **ATK: 1400-700** ) ( **ATK: 2200-2900** ) "Now Gaia, attack her Boxer with Continent Smash!" The hero raised his right arm and was about to slam the box monster.

"I activate my trap, Defense Draw!" Clover's facedown card flipped up. "Thanks to this, any battle damage I'll take from this attack goes down to zero, and I get to draw a card." She drew her extra card just before Gaia's fist made contact and the impact created a dust cloud that surrounded Clover's side of the field. Everyone watched as they waited for the smoke to clear. And when it did, they noticed something unexpected...

BOXer was holding up its arms and blocked the giant hero's arm, despite the difference between their sizes.

"What? How did that monster survive?" Matt questioned. "Surely it can't be Clover's trap card."

"Hey, look!" Jenny said, pointing at the box monster. The others looked at it, and noticed the glowing dot on its chest. It glowed so brightly before it disappeared.

"Um, what was what?" Syrus wondered.

"It was a counter." Everyone turned to Bastion after hearing what he said.

"A counter?" Jaden repeated.

"That's right." Clover replied. "My BOXer gets a counter after destroying a monster in battle. And here's one benefit it has; If BOXer would be destroyed, I can save him by removing one."

"So her monster was protected?" Chumley asked.

"Naturally." Bastion replied.

"Which means Andrew can only destroy it when its without counters." Jenny said.

"My Blazeman may not be strong enough to defeat him, but he can at least take down Celtic Guardian." The fire hero dashed at elven warrior and punched him, making his body shatter into pixels.

 **Clover: 4000-3500**

"I end my turn with a facedown." Andrew concluded and placed a card on the table. ( **ATK: 2900-2200** )

"Alright then." Clover drew her next card. "I summon Kinetic Soldier in attack mode." A cyborg wearing a blue and purple armor appeared. It was wielding a blue rifle in its left hand. ( **ATK: 1350** DEF: 1800 LV: 3) "Now attack his Gaia!" ( **ATK: 1350-1550** ) ( **ATK: 1800-2000** ) The cyborg prepared to fire the rifle.

Most of the spectators were surprised.

"Hold on! That monster is weaker than Gaia." Jaden said.

"Yeah, attacking him with that monster would be pointless." Syrus added.

"Unless it has a special ability." Alexis said, making the others, minus Jenny and Michael to turn to her.

"Yup, and this ability is very strong." Clover said. "If the monster it battles with is a warrior type, it gains 2000 attack and defense points during the damage calculation."

Andrew almost grimaced. "Great." He then flipped up his facedown card. "I activate Fiendish Chain!" A bunch of chains erupted from the ground around the cyborg before wrapping themselves around it, making it drop its rifle. "This trap card keeps your monster from attacking, and more importantly, its special abilities are negated.

Clover clicked her tongue. "And I thought I could get rid of your Gaia. Fine, I'll attack your Blazeman with BOXer." The box monster gave the fire hero a left hook and sent him flying.

 **Andrew: 2200-1400**

And once again, a glowing dot appeared on the boxer's chest. ( **ATK: 2000-1800** ) ( **ATK: 1550-1350** ) "I end my turn."

"My turn." Andrew drew a card and placed it directly on the table. "I play the spell card Legacy of a Hero. With at least 2 level 4 or higher Elemental heroes in my graveyard, I can draw three cards from my deck." He drew his extra cards. "And now I summon Elemental HERO Woodsman in defense mode." The green-skinned, wooden hero appeared on the field and kneeled down. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4) "And then I'll attack your Kinetic Soldier with Gaia!" The giant hero raised his arm again and smashed the cyborg with ease.

 **Clover: 3500-2650**

"I place one card facedown and end my turn." A card appeared behind Woodsman.

"Here goes." Clover drew. "I summon Gauntlet warrior in attack mode." The monster that appeared was a dark-skinned man wearing a blue armor with a red gauntlet on his right that had an equally red jewel in its center. ( **ATK: 400** DEF: 1600 LV: 3) "And this monster has a special ability. By sacrificing him, I can give all warrior type monsters on my field 500 attack and defense points. And, that power boost will last until after my monster have battled." The gauntlet wearing warrior disappeared as the boxer was surrounded by a red aura. ( **ATK: 1800-2300** DEF: 1000-1500) "Now BOXer, destroy his Woodsman!" ( **ATK: 2300-2500** ) The box monster gave the wooden man a right hook and sent him away before he exploded. ( **ATK: 2500-2000** ) And then, a second glowing dot could be seen on the boxer's chest.

"Why didn't she attack Gaia? She could have destroyed him and cause battle damage." Shiori pointed out.

"True, but Woodsman has the ability to transfer a Polymerization card from the deck or graveyard to Andrew's hand." Jenny reminded him. "And that would be trouble some for Clover."

"So it was better to get rid of him than give Andrew the chance to summon another fusion monster." Michael added.

Clover smirked at her successful attack. "And there goes your Woodsman."

Andrew, however, smirked back. "Don't be so cocky. You just triggered my trap, Hero Signal." He flipped up his facedown card. "Since my monster was destroyed, I can summon a level 4 or lower Elemental HERO from my hand or deck. And I choose Elemental HERO Ocean." The blue-skinned, aquatic hero appeared. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1200 LV: 4)

"Sweet! That is just what Andrew needs." Jaden said.

"No joke." Alexis agreed. "With that monster on the field, he can return any HERO monster he wants from his field or graveyard to his hand."

"He's going to need it." Clover spoke up. "Especially after I do this…" ( **ATK: 2000-1800** ) Everyone watched as her box monster was enveloped in light.

"What's going on?" Chumley asked.

"I don't know." Syrus replied.

"Then I'll tell you." Clover said with a smirk. "My BOXer destroyed Woodsman earlier, which gave him another counter. And with two counters, I can use his second ability. By sacrificing him, I can summon an earth attribute monster from my deck. And I think I'll bring out someone you might remember, Andrew." Once the light died down, everyone could see a different monster in BOXer's place. It was a purple armored warrior with a sword that had blue jewels adorned on it.

"Whoa! Is that…?" Shiori gasped.

"It is." Xander confirmed his thought.

Despite of what seems to be his disadvantage, Andrew smiled at the sight of the new monster. "Him, huh?"

"That's right." Clover responded. "It's my good old friend, Buster Blader." ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2300 LV: 7)

"Buster Blader? No way!" Matt said in awe.

"Never thought I'd get the chance to see one this close." Shiori admitted.

"Me neither." Jenny said. "I've only heard of one duelist who used one Buster Blader, and that's Yugi Moto himself."

"It's been a long time since I saw him." Andrew said, still smiling.

"Glad you missed him, because he's about to remind you why he's my ace monster." Clover declared. "But, I have already attacked this turn, so I'll end my turn with facedown." A card appeared behind the warrior.

"Then I'll start with this…" Andrew drew a card. "I activate Ocean's ability. During my standby phase, I can take a HERO monster from my field or graveyard and add it to my hand. And I choose Blazeman." He picked up the named card from his graveyard. "And now I'll summon him to the field." The red armored fire hero appeared again. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "And with that, I'll use his ability to take another Polymerization from my deck." He took the spell card from his deck. "And now I'll use it fuse Blazeman and Ocean to form Elemental HERO Absolute Zero!" The two named heroes merged together and and kneeled down on the field in the form of the white armored ice hero. (ATK: 2500 **DEF: 2000** LV: 8) "Then I'll switch Gaia to defense mode and end my turn." The giant hero crossed his arms and kneeled down as well.

"My move." Clover drew a card and eyed on Andrew's ice hero. _'I remember Absolute Zero's abilities all too well. He gets 500 attack points for every other water monster on the field. And when he leaves the field, all monsters on the opponent's side of the field are destroyed. Facing that monster is troublesome.'_ She then eyed on her facedown card. _'Luckily, I'm prepared. But first…'_ ( **ATK: 2600-2800** ) "Buster Blader, attack Gaia! Dragon Sword Attack!" The warrior leapt forward and slashed the giant hero with his sword, making explode into pixels. "And with that, I'm done." Clover concluded. ( **ATK: 2800-2600** )

"I draw." Andrew drew a card and looked over his head. _'I don't have anything to get rid of Buster Blader, except for Absolute Zero. But her facedown card might be something to surprise me if I attack. So I'll save Absolute Zero for later.'_ He then took another card from his hand. "I play Monster Reborn. Now I can summon a monster from my graveyard. And I'll bring back Elemental HERO Knospe!" The little plant monster appeared next to the ice hero. ( **ATK: 600** DEF: 1000 LV: 3) "And then I summon Elemental HERO Lady Heat in defense mode." The red and white clad fire heroine appeared and kneeled down. (ATK: 1300 **DEF: 1000** LV: 4) "And now, with another Elemental HERO on my field, Knospe can attack you directly. Go, Seed Blast!" The plant monster fired seeds from her open buds, causing Clover to shied herself with her arms.

 **Clover: 2650-2050**

"And with her direct attack successful, her attack points are increased 100, in exchange for 100 of her defense points." ( **ATK: 600-700** DEF: 1000-900) "And as long as I have another Elemental HERO on the field, you're not allowed to attack her. And now, I'll end my turn, which activates Lady Heat's ability. During my end phase, you take 200 points of damage for every Elemental HERO I have." The fire heroine created a fireball and threw it at Clover.

 **Clover: 2050-1450**

"Okay, their life points are pretty even." Jenny said.

"True, but Andrew has the clear advantage." Bastion stated. "After all, his Knospe can attack Clover directly and is safe from her attacks. The only way to stop it is to get rid of all other Elemental Heroes on Andrew's field."

"And that's easier said than done." Michael commented. "Because if she attacks Absolute Zero, all monsters on her field will be destroyed."

"And if she doesn't destroy him, there is a chance for Andrew to bring out a water monster to make him strong enough to attack Buster Blader." Shiori added.

"But I don't think we should count out Clover just yet." Xander said. "She's the most skilled duelist I've known, so I wouldn't be surprised if she found a way around this."

"Then let's see what she'll do." Jaden replied.

"My turn." Clover announced and drew a card. "Alright Buster Blader, take down his Absolute Zero!" ( **ATK: 2600-2800** ) The warrior rushed over to the ice hero and slashed him with his sword.

"I hope it was worth it…" Andrew said. "Because with Absolute Zero gone, your monster is destroyed." At that, the field was surrounded by an icy wind. And then, Buster Blader froze before his body shattered.

"He's gone." Syrus noted.

"Attacking Absolute Zero was a big mistake." Chumley added.

Jaden then narrowed his eyes. "I'm not sure if that was a mistake." He said, getting confused looks from the others.

Clover, who heard him, smirked. "Got that right. I was prepared for his effect. And now to play my facedown trap…" She flipped up her facedown card. "Call of the Haunted."

Andrew widened his eyes before he sighed. "It just had to be that one."

"Now I can summon a monster back from my graveyard. So let's all welcome back Buster Blader!" The purple armored warrior rose up on the field again. ( **ATK: 2600-2800** DEF: 2300 LV: 7) "And my battle phase is still on, so he can attack again. Go, Dragon Sword Attack!" The warrior struck Lady Heat with his sword. ( **ATK: 2800-2600** ) "I place two cards facedown and play Mirage of Nightmare." She placed the three cards on the table. "And that ends my turn."

"A brilliant move." Bastion commented. "She knew about Absolute Zero's ability and was prepared with her trap card. And now Knospe is the only monster on Andrew's field."

"Then he just have to play another monster." Matt said.

"I think he's going to need more than that." Shiori replied.

"My move." Andrew declared and drew a card.

"And that means of Mirage of Nightmare activates. Since your standby phase comes around, I get to draw until I have 4 cards in my hand." Clover drew her extra cards.

 _'And knowing her, she'll get rid of that card soon.'_ Andrew glanced at the card he drew. _'But still.'_ He placed it in his hand and played another card. "I summon Elemental HERO Ice Edge in attack mode!" The kid with the ice-like outfit appeared. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 900 LV: 3) "And next I activate his special ability. By discarding one card from my hand, he can attack you directly." He took a card from his hand and placed it on his graveyard. "But first I'll attack with Knospe. Go, Seed Blast!" The plant hero fired another barrage of seeds."

 **Clover: 1450-0750**

"And with another successful attack, she gets stronger." ( **ATK: 700-800** DEF: 900-800) "And now it's Ice Edge's turn! Attack her now!" He the kid dashed forward.

"I activate my trap!" One of Clover's facedown cards flipped up. "Sakuretsu Armor! And while I'm at it, I play Emergency Provisions!" Her other facedown card flipped up. "Now, I can send a number of spells or traps to the graveyard and regain 1000 life points for each one. And I'll toss out Mirage of Nightmare and Sakuretsu Armor." The two named cards disappeared.

 **Clover: 0750-2750**

"And even though my trap card left the field because of my spell, it's effect is still on, allowing me to destroy your attacking monster." The ice hero exploded into pixels.

"Not bad." Andrew complimented. "But let's see what you do after this…" He took the card he drew earlier and placed it on the table. "I play Mask Change."

Clover gasped.

"Now I trade in my Knospe for a Masked HERO with the same attribute. Now watch as she transforms into Masked HERO Dian." The plant glowed brightly and transformed into the warrior in silver armor. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 3000 LV: 8)

"Sweet! One of his Masked heroes!" Jaden said.

"And it's strong enough to take down Buster Blader." Matt added.

"Well, Clover? Looks like you're about to lose Buster Blader." Andrew stated.

"Maybe. But I won't be alone after that." Clover replied as she discarded a card from her hand, confusing him. And then, a new monster appeared next to Buster Blader. It was a bipedal dragon with most of its body seemingly made of ice. It had black wings and a metal mask covering its face. It also had a metallic armlet on its left arm. It landed on the field and crossed its arms. (ATK: 1800 **DEF: 2200** LV: 5)

"What?" Andrew was surprised.

"What is that?" Syrus wondered.

"Beats me." Chumley replied.

"This is a monster called Dragon Ice." Clover explained. "When my opponent special summons a monster, I can discard one card and summon it from my hand or graveyard."

"I see." Andrew said as he nodded. "You're going to need it. Now Dian, destroy her Buster Blader!" The silver armored hero dashed forward and slashed the purple armored warrior with her sword.

 **Clover: 2750-2550**

"And now I activate Dian's special ability. After she destroys a monster in battle, I can summon a level 4 or lower Elemental HERO from my deck. And I know just the one. Elemental Shadow Mist!" The woman in black armor appeared. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "After she's special summoned, I can take a quick play spell card from my deck, as long as it's a card with the word 'Change' in its name."

"No way." Clover said while widening her eyes.

Andrew went through his deck until found the card he wanted and held it up. "And I think I'll use it right away. The spell card Mask Change II. By discarding one card from my hand, I can send a monster from my field to the graveyard and summon another Masked HERO. Now Shadow Mist, time to transform!" The female hero glowed and transformed into the jet black armored hero. "Meet my Masked HERO Anki!" ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: 1200 LV: 8) "Now attack her directly with Shadow Strike!" Anki melted into the shadows and disappeared for a moment before reappear right in front of Clover and smacked her.

She grunted after suffering the attack. "That hero can actually attack directly?" She asked disbelieved.

"That's right. But since he used his special ability to attack you, the battle damage was cut in half."

 **Clover: 2550-1150**

"And with that, I end my turn." Andrew concluded.

"What a comeback." Jenny commented. "Clover seemed to get the upper hand at first, but Andrew turned the duel around."

"And with two Masked heroes on the field, she won't be able to beat him so easily." Alexis added.

"That depends on what Clover's going to do on her next turn." Xander replied.

"That's true." Jaden agreed. "One card is all what it takes to turn the tide."

Clover, despite her disadvantage, had a confident look on her face. "You got me pretty good there, Andrew. But now it's my turn." She drew a card.

"Then what will you do now?" Andrew asked.

To answer his question, she revealed the card she drew. "I play Pot of Greed. So now I can draw two more cards. And I'm confident that I'll get exactly what I need to end this duel." Clover drew her two extra cards and looked at them. It was then she smirked. "Perfect!"

Andrew widened his eyes.

"What did she get?" Matt wondered.

"We're about to find out." Shiori replied.

Clover placed one of her cards on the table. "First I play the spell card Emblem of Dragon Destroyer. If I have Buster Blader in my deck or graveyard, I can add him to my hand." SHe took back the named card from her graveyard. She then placed another card on the table. "And now I play Polymerization, allowing me to fuse Buster Blader with King of the Swamp." Along with a fusion vortex, Buster Blader appeared, along with a slimy creature that took the form a head with a pair of hands.

"Whoa! A fusion!?" Jaden exclaimed.

"And with Buster Blader, no less." Jenny added.

"But what kind of monster can be created by combining him with that swamp thing?" Syrus wondered.

"That is what makes King of the swamp useful, Syrus." Bastion replied. "When you fusion summon a monster, you can substitute it for any 1 fusion material monster, as long as the other monster is correct."

"And how does that work?" Chumley asked.

"Well, for example, if Jaden would summon Flame Wingman, he can use it as Avian and fuse it with Burstinatrix to create him."

Syrus and Chumley let out an 'uh huh' as if they understood him.

Andrew, who already knew that, started to get nervous. "Hold on. There's only one fusion monster I know about that requires Buster Blader as one of the materials."

Clover smirked. "And you're about to face that monster right now!" The two monsters entered the fusion vortex and merged as one. And then, a new monster came out of it. It was a monster that resembled the Dark Magician. But his magician outfit was dark-green with yellow lines and small jewels. He had yellow eyes and pale-green skin. And he was wielding a blade that had same yellow lines and jewels as his outfit. "Here he is! Dark Paladin!" ( **ATK: 2900** DEF: 2400 LV: 8)

"Mind blown!" Michael commented.

"Dark Paladin!" Shiori added.

"Yugi is known for using that monster as well." Matt pointed out.

"No way." Andrew was still shocked by Clover's monster.

"If you think Dark Paladin is amazing now, just wait for his special ability to kick in." She warned him. "For every Dragon type monster on the field and in our graveyards, he gains 500 attack points." The blade in Dark Paladin's hand overflowed with energy. ( **ATK: 2900-3900** )

"What? 1000 extra points?" Jaden noted.

"But Dragon Ice is the only dragon type monster in play." Chumley said.

"Clover must have another one in her graveyard." Jenny realized.

"But when did she even send a dragon there?" Syrus asked.

It didn't take long for Andrew to figure that one out. "When Dragon Ice was summoned."

"That's right…" Clover replied.

* * *

 **Flashback**

 _"When I summoned Dragon Ice, I discarded Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV 6."_

Clover took the card in question from her hand and placed it on the graveyard.

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"And now with that out of the way, it's time for me to play this card." She placed her last card on the table. "The spell card, Dragonic Attack!"

"What does that do?"

"This is an equip spell that can only be equipped to a warrior type monster."

"But from what I've heard, Dark Paladin is a spellcaster, not a warrior type." Jaden pointed out.

"But Andrew's monsters are." Alexis stated.

"Yup, and I think I'll add it to Dian." The silver armored hero was surrounded by a blue aura. "Now, from starters, my spell card gives the equipped monster 500 attack and defense points." ( **ATK: 2800-3300** DEF: 3000-3500)

"Something tells me there's a catch." Andrew said.

"Well, in your case, it is. My spell card has another twist. Take a look at this…" Everyone noticed that the aura around the masked hero brightened before she suddenly transformed. And then, they were surprised to see her new form. Her silver armor had become Dragon-like, with claws, talons and a tail. And her blue cape had become a pair of wings.

"What happened to Dian?"

"It's the second power of my equip spell. Your Masked HERO is now a dragon type." Clover's explanation made Andrew gasp. "And you know what that means, don't you?" Dark Paladin's blade was filled with more energy. ( **ATK: 3900-4400** )

"4400 attack points!" Xander exclaimed.

"Oh my god!" Jenny said.

"And that should be enough." Clover proclaimed. "Now Dark Paladin, destroy his Anki and the rest of his life points! Magic Dragon Blade Attack!" The paladin raised his blade as it glowed with purple energy. And then, he slashed downwards, sending an energy wave that struck the dark, masked hero and created a massive explosion.

 **Andrew: 1400-0000**

While the holograms disappeared, the spectators were shocked by the result.

"Andrew… lost?" Matt said.

"It looks that way." Michael replied calmly, despite being as shocked as the rest.

As the duelists got off of the podiums, Jenny approached Andrew, who looked down on the ground, not saying a word. "Andrew, you okay?" She asked him worriedly.

But to her surprise, he looked up and laughed. "I've never been better!" He turned to Clover. "That was a great duel, Clover."

She walked to him and smiled. "It sure was. I was a little worried back there. You almost had me there. But almost doesn't count."

"Then I'll just have to step up my game next time." He said as he raised his right fist.

Clover smirked and gave him a fist bump. "You better."

Everyone else couldn't help but smile at this moment. Despite his loss, which was the first time they ever witnessed, Andrew was still smiling. And as good as this day was getting, it had only just begun.

* * *

 **Whoops! Looks like Clover took a win from Andrew. But there's always next time. Sorry for the long wait by the way. I hope I'll be able to work with my next chapter faster. Until next time.**


	36. Chapter 36

**When Bullies Collide**

It's been a couple of minutes since the duel between Andrew and Clover. Shiori and Matt still couldn't believe that Andrew lost. But no one was complaining though. It was nothing more than a friendly duel, after all. Right now, the gang was taking a break.

"Phew. That was tough." Clover said while stretching her arms a bit.

"Tell me about it." Andrew replied.

"You certainly live up to your rivalry." Bastion noted.

"Yeah, no joke." Jaden said. "That was one of the sweetest duels I've ever seen! And I was the closest one to almost beating Andrew."

"But he pulled off a big one and crushed you, right?" Clover asked with a tone saying that she knew what happened.

But Andrew, who smiled sheepishly, was about to prove her wrong. "Actually, I didn't win."

His childhood friend turned to him with widened eyes. "Come again?"

"Really? I know your decks are similar, but after seeing what you both can do, I find it hard to believe you didn't beat Jaden." Xander stated.

"Trust me, you should have seen Jaden's previous duels." Alexis remarked.

"Yeah, wether his opponents had strong monsters or powerful combos, Jaden was always able to get something to turn the duel around." Jenny added.

"And his duel against Andrew was no exception." Michael said.

"It's true." Andrew replied. "Because of how much Jaden pushed me, he forced me into a draw."

Xander widened his eyes.

And so did Clover, before she snorted. "Get out of town."

"It's true." Shiori said. "We can all vouch for that."

"And let me tell you, that duel was awesome." Matt added.

And so, Clover and Xander found themselves listening to the story about the duel off between Jaden and Andrew.

* * *

 _Somewhere else, in a forest area_

Meanwhile, someone was sitting on the ground, leaning against one of the trees. That person was an Obelisk Blue boy who had short, dark green hair and was quite well built. It was none other than Norman Johnson. The stalker who bothered Jenny and tried to get Andrew away from her. Of course, his attempts went very bad, to his annoyance. He was rearranging his deck while muttering in anger.

"That damn Andrew Wilson. He made a fool out of me. Not once, but _twice_! He keeps me from getting any closer to Jenny!" He then gathered his cards and stood up before held up his deck with an evil grin. "But that will change. With my improved deck, that loser won't stand a chance!"

* * *

 _Somewhere else, in another part of the forest._

At the same time, Another Obelisk blue boy was arranging his own deck. This one had messy brown hair and grey eyes. While he was looking over his cards, he was muttering angrily.

"To think I would be so humiliated. Not by one, but _two_ slackers! That Slifer sludge with those annoying flip effect monsters...

* * *

 **Flashback**

The Obelisk boy was in the forest area of the Academy island, dueling someone. And that someone... was none other than Matt. The purple-haired Slifer had Reaper of the Cards on the field, while the Obelisk boy had nothing at all.

"Now, Reaper of the Cards, attack him directly!" The reaper raised its scythe and slashed the Obelisk boy, forsing him down to his knees.

 **Obelisk boy: 1200-0000**

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"And that ritual monster using Ra Reject…"

* * *

 **Flashback**

"Relinquished, end this duel with Pilfered Power Attack!" Shiori's golden eyed ritual monster (That had Armored Zombie attached to its shield) fired a beam of pink energy at the Obelisk boy, who cried out after taking the hit.

 **Obelisk boy: 1100-0000**

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"I was humiliated and forced to work at that stupid card shop in 4 weeks because of him and his friends!" He rambled as he slammed on the ground with his right hand. He then took a deep breath before he stood up and smirked. "But soon, I'll have the last laugh. With my improved deck, those two losers will suffer for what they did to me!" He held up his deck triumphantly.

But after about 3 seconds, he glanced around. "But first I need to test my new deck on someone."

* * *

Coincidentally, Norman glanced around with the same idea. "I better test my new deck on someone."

* * *

In another part of the forest, a black-haired, skinny boy with a Slifer red uniform walked around and explored the place.

"Wow! This island is amazing." He said to himself. He then noticed something from a distance. It was another one of Pegasus' dueling arenas. "Ah, a dueling arena." The Slifer boy walked up to it.

But... unbeknownst to him, someone was hiding behind a bush nearby and gave him a mischievous look. It was the brown-haired Obelisk boy. "Ah, the perfect victim."

On the other side of the area, someone else was hiding behind their own bush and looked at the Slifer boy. That someone was Norman. "That slacker will do nicely."

The Slifer boy stared at the dueling arena fascinated. "This is so cool. If only I could duel someone."

"Then how about a duel against me!"

The Slifer boy jumped at hearing a voice from behind him. He turned around to see the brown-haired Obelisk staring down at him with a grin.

"Huh?" THe Slifer stepped back nervously.

"You want to duel someone, Slacker? I'll show you what a skillful duelist can do."

The Slifer backed away slowly, clearly not wanting to duel this guy. But as soon as he turned around tried to run, another Obelisk boy jumped out from the corner of arena, startling him.

"You there! You are just the kind of opponent I was looking for!" Norman declared.

"AAH!" The Slifer boy stumbled back and fell on the ground.

The brown-haired Obelisk boy turned to Norman and narrowed his eyes. "Hey, back off! I saw him first!"

Norman gave him a glare. "Don't think so, buddy. That Slifer Slacker is _my_ victim. Go find your own!"

The other Obelisk boy was about to say something in anger, before he had a look of recognition. "Wait a minute. I know you. You're that weirdo who is stalking that girl Jenny."

In a blink of an eye, Norman got right in front of him with an angry expression. "Hey! The name is Norman! And you better stay out of my business! Besides, it's not like you are any better, Mr. 'Card Thief'!'"

Now it was 'Mr. Card Thief's' turn to become angry. "My name is Victor! And you should stay out of _my_ business! I'm the one who's going to duel that Slifer!"

"No, it's me!"

"No, me!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

While the two Obelisks were arguing, the Slifer boy sneaked away quietly until he got a good distance and ran away.

"I'm the one who's going to duel here, so beat it!" Norman spat.

"Forget it, Stalker! I saw him first, and you can't stop me!" Victor retorted as he turned to the Slifer boy... only to find out he was gone. "Wait! Where did he go?"

Norman glanced around, trying to find him. "Great. He must have escaped!"

"This gets better and better." Victor said sarcastically before giving Norman a glare. "You just had to let that Slifer get away! Real smooth, you stalker!"

Norman got into his face. "Me? You're the one who let him escape, pickpocket!"

"That's it! If I can't duel a lame Slifer, then I'll just mope the floor with you instead!"

"Ha! How can you hold a candle to me, if you can't hold your own cards without taking someone else's?"

"Why don't you prove it to me? Unless of course, you're scared." Victor taunted.

"You're on, loser!" Norman replied angrily.

* * *

 _Back to the dynamic group_

Clover and Xander were impressed by the group's description of Andrew and Jaden's duel off. Man, they wished they could see that. After that, they decided to tell other stories. And the latest one was something Clover found really amusing...

"Hahahaha! So Andrew bumped into Jaden and accidentally picked up _his_ deck, and ended up using it against Shiori in a duel?"

"I know, right?" Jaden replied with a grin. "The old Switcheroo."

"I still find it hard to believe he actually won with it." Shiori said.

"I admit I had some trouble with it at first." Andrew said while scratching the back of his head. "But since I remembered some of Jaden's strategies, I was able to work it out."

"With the similarities between your decks, that's not surprising." Bastion commented.

"It's not like Andrew was copying Jaden, like Dimitri did." Michael added.

"And who's Dimitri?" Xander asked.

"A Ra Yellow duelist who made himself known for copying other duelists and their strategies." Matt replied.

"And he really lived up to his style by copying Yugi Moto." Jenny added.

"For real?" Clover asked. "He couldn't have made a copy of _his_ deck, right?"

"That's just the thing." Andrew began to explain. "Dimitri didn't create a copy of his deck, he actually…"

It was then he was interrupted by the sound of rustling bushes. The group turned to see a Slifer boy running out of the forest with a scared look on his face. Just as he was passing them, he somehow tripped and fell on the ground. They rushed over to him.

"Whoa! You okay there, dude?" Michael asked.

The Slifer boy looked up and flinched when he saw the purple-haired Obelisk boy. "I… I…"

"Chill out, man. None of us is going to hurt you." Jaden said, trying to calm the poor guy down, which seemed to work.

"Why were you running?" Clover asked.

The Slifer boy hesitated at first, but then, he spoke up. "I... was exploring the forest a while ago until two Obelisks ambushed me."

Some members of the gang widened their eyes, while the rest of them scowled at this.

Including Alexis. "They just never learn."

"Can you tell us about them?" Shiori asked.

"W-well, one of them was someone named Victor and the other one was named Norman."

The whole gang, save for Clover and Xander, widened their eyes again.

"Norman?" Syrus asked.

" _That_ Norman?" Chumley added.

Clover and Xander obviously confused. "Um, hello! Some of us don't have the details." The former pointed out.

"Yeah. Just who is this Norman you guys are talking about?" The latter asked.

"He's an Obelisk Blue student who's been quite a nuisance." Bastion replied.

"Mostly towards me." Jenny said with a disgusted look. "He's a stalker who's been trying to make me go out with him."

Clover and Xander were surprised by their words. The former's surprised look was then replaced by an angry look. "For real?"

"For real." Andrew repeated. "And if that wasn't bad enough, he's accusing me for getting in his way, all because I'm Jenny's friend. And for that, I've been forced to duel him to try to make him take the hint."

"And did it work?" Xander asked.

"I doubt it. He tried twice to force her to date him. I have a feeling he hasn't given up yet." Andrew then clenched his right hand. "The next time he'll strike again, I'll make sure to make him realize that Jenny is not interested…"

"No!" The girl in question said firmly, getting everyone's attention. "Norman has been after me. Me and no one else. If he can't take the hint after getting beat by you, then I'm the one who should deal with him."

"Really? Are you sure?" Jaden asked.

"She's actually right." Alexis replied. "Only Jenny herself can knock some sense into Norman's head, since she's the one he's fixated on."

"Yeah. Norman is _my_ problem, so that's why I have to do it." Jenny said.

Andrew stared at her for a moment before nodding. "Okay then."

"Alright, how about we get back to the subject." Bastion suggested while pointing at the Slifer boy.

"Oh, right." Michael said before turning to him. "Where are the two Obelisks now?"

The Slifer boy pointed to the forest. "At a dueling arena in the forest."

"Then we'd better head over there." Shiori declared as everyone nodded. He then turned to the Slifer boy. "Don't worry, pal. We'll make sure they're dealt with."

"T-thanks." He nodded.

"Come on, let's go." Andrew gestured as everyone walked into the forest.

* * *

 _Back to Norman and Victor_

The two Obelisks just took their positions on the podiums on the arena. Norman on the blue one, and Victor on the red one.

"Let's get this started. Just try not to cry about your loss, pickpocket." Norman mocked as he and his opponent drew their opening hands.

"Please, the one who's going to cry is the stalker who can't even make a single girl fall for him." Victor countered.

The fiend duelist growled at his words. "Just you wait…"

The both were so focused on each other, they didn't notice Andrew, Jaden and the rest of the gang arrive at the sidelines.

"There they are." Michael pointed out.

Jenny took a look at Norman's opponent, and widened her eyes in recognition. "Wait a minute. That's the guy who stole Shiori's card."

The ritual duelist glared at the Obelisk boy in question. "Him again?"

"He stole one of Shiori's cards?" Xander asked.

"That's right." Michael replied. "That guy was after a special rare card from a limited booster pack. And that card in particular was something Shiori managed to get, so he took it from him."

"Luckily, we managed to capture him and get it back." Jenny added.

"I see." Xander nodded.

"Yes. His name is Victor Harris." Bastion mentioned. "And it appears that he's about to duel Norman."

"But why?" Matt wondered.

"Did something happened between them?" Andrew guessed.

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Jaden declared, getting everyone's attention. "Let's watch the duel!"

That of course, caused the gang to face-fault. After they all recovered, Clover got into Jaden's face and gave him an annoyed look. "And we'll do that because…?"

"Because in a duel, the truth always comes out." The Slifer replied nonchalantly.

Everyone sighed at his reply but turned their attention to the duel.

"LET'S DUEL!"

 **Norman: 4000**

 **Victor: 4000**

"Time to kick your butt." Norman declared as he drew his sixth card. "And I'll start with this; Archfiend Soldier in attack mode!" He placed a card on the table and unleashed a demon with white curved horns wearing purple and gold armor and a brown cape. It was also wielding a sword. ( **ATK: 1900** DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "Then I'll end my turn with a facedown." A card appeared behind the demon.

"Hmph, amateur." Victor muttered as he drew his next card. He looked at it and smirked before placing it on the table. "I play the spell card, Change of Heart. This lets me take control of your monster for one turn. So I'll take your soldier."

"What!?" Was all Norman said before his monster disappeared and reappeared on Victor's side.

"Then I summon Melchid the Four-Face Beast in attack mode!" The creature with a rotating array of masks appeared. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Now attack his life points directly!" The masked monster flew forward.

While it got closer, Norman glanced at his facedown card angrily. _'Dammit! Because of what that punk did, my trap card's useless!'_

And then, he was tackled by Melchid.

 **Norman:** **4000-2500**

"And now I'll strike you down with your own monster!" Victor declared. "Archfiend Soldier, attack!" The fiendish soldier ran towards its former master and slashed him with its sword.

 **Norman: 2500-0600**

Norman growled after getting attacked.

"Aww, are you upset about losing life points from your own monster?" Victor asked mockingly.

"Don't get too cocky, pickpocket!" The fiend duelist snapped. "Just give my monster back when your turn ends."

"Actually, your soldier won't stay that long." Victor stated, confusing his opponent. "Because I'm going to sacrifice him, along with Melchid the Four-Face Beast, in order to summon Masked Beast Des Gardius!" The two monsters disappeared into a veil of black smoke. Emerging from it, the giant fiend with three, blue masks rose up on the field. ( **ATK: 3300** DEF: 2500 LV: 8)

"Man, I hate that monster." Shiori muttered.

"Well, after hearing what you guys told us about your duel against that guy, I don't blame you." Jaden replied.

"A troublesome creature, indeed." Bastion added. "And now, Norman is the one facing it. Not to mention the duel had just begun, and he's already down to 600 life points."

"I'll end my turn with a facedown." Victor concluded as he placed a card on the table.

"Just you wait." Norman muttered angrily and drew his next card. He looked at it and smirked. "Ah, perfect!" His words made Victor blink. He then placed the card he drew on the table. "I play the spell card Polymerization. And with it, I'm gonna fuse Summoned Skull with Archfiend of Gilfer!" A fusion vortex appeared and absorbed the familiar skeleton fiend and a blue-skinned demon with red wings.

"A fusion?" Andrew mused.

"That's new, coming from him." Matt added.

"Now I summon Archfiend's Manifestation!" At that, a new monster came out of the fusion vortex. It looked just like Summoned Skull. Except that its horns and wings were purple instead of the same colors as the original. The monster growled as its body unleashed purple electricity. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 1200 LV: 6)

Victor stared at the monster for a moment before scoffing. "Heh. You gotta do better than that. My Des Gardius is too strong for that thing."

Norman wasn't angered by the insult. Instead, he was smirking. "Don't be so sure. My Archfiend's Manifestation is more powerful than you think. From starters, while this monster is on the field, its name becomes 'Summoned Skull', but is still treated as an Archfiend card."

That earned him a lazy glare from his opponent. "And I should care about that because…?"

"Because, my Archfiend's Manifestation has another ability. And that ability lets him increase the attack strength of all Summoned Skulls by 500 hundred points. And that includes himself." Once again, the skeletal fiend's body unleashed purple electricity. ( **ATK: 2500-3000** )

"Still not strong enough."

"Why not let Archfiend of Gilfer be the judge of that?"

Victor gave him a confused look before he noticed the blue-skinned demon from earlier appear behind the masked beast and wrapped its arms around it, making it struggle. "Hey, what's going on!?"

"Oh? Did I forget to mention my Archfiend's special ability? When it's sent to the graveyard, I can let him equip himself to your monster as an equip spell and drain 500 of its attack points." ( **ATK: 3300-2800** )

"Not bad." Xander commented.

"Now he's got the upper hand." Clover added.

"But that won't last long, if Norman is dumb enough to attack." Jenny replied, making the two confused.

"What do you mean?" Clover asked.

"Now, Archfiend's Manifestation, attack his Masked Beast Des Gardius! Sinister Lightning!" The skeletal fiend monster fired electricity at the masked beast. It was zapped until it exploded into pixels.

 **Victor: 4000-3800**

"Ha! What do you say about that!?" Norman called out.

Victor stared at his table, without saying a word. Norman assumed that he was shocked. But before he could say anything, Victor chuckled and looked up. "What I have to say? Well, I'm saying you're an idiot."

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Norman asked angrily.

"That you just allowed me to do this…!" In Des Gardius' place, its three masks were floating in there, to the fiend duelist's confusion. And then, the masks merged together to form one gruesome and fiendish mask.

"What is that?" Syrus asked, almost creeped out by the new mask.

"Well, for Norman, that thing is bad news." Micheal replied.

"By destroying my Masked Beast, you allowed me to bring out The Mask of Remnants from my deck. And here's the best part; The Mask of Remants lets me take control of your monster. So I'll be taking your Archfiend's Manifestation."

Norman gasped as the mask attached itself to the fiend monster's face. And then, it flew over to Victor's side of the field.

"Oooh. So that's what you meant." Xander said, turning to the group.

"Yeah. That's how he took control of one of my monsters." Shiori replied as he watched with a glare. "Not exactly a fun memory."

Norman was giving Victor a glare of his own for taking his monster. "You piece of s***!"

"Whoa, watch the language. Some kids might be nearby." Victor taunted.

"Oh, you're funny. But I'm gonna get the last laugh." Norman placed a card sideways on the table. "I play a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"Fine by me." Victor drew a card. "I summon Rogue Doll in attack mode." A doll that appeared to be a woman's face with large purple hair appeared with two arms holding a scepter. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "Now attack his facedown monster!" The doll waved its scepter and and fired a beam of purple energy at Norman's facedown card. Before it got hit, it flipped up, allowing a monstrous mouth with sharp teeth ooze out of its image. The most disturbing part of his monster was that there a pair of eyes inside that mouth. (ATK: 200 **DEF: 100** LV: 2)

Before it was destroyed, Victor looked like he recognized it. "Wait a sec! Was that Jowls of Dark Demise?"

Norman smirked. "That's right. And due to its flip effect, I'm allowed to take control of one of your monsters until the end of my turn. So I'll take back my Archfiend's Manifestation for a moment." The skeletal fiend monster glowed with a purple aura before it flew back to his owner's side of the field.

Victor clicked his tongue. "Fine, I'll just end my turn." And then, Norman's Archfiend flew over to his side of the field… again.

Norman drew a card" First I'll play Pot of Greed. This lets me draw two cards." He drew two cards and looked at them. Then he smirked "This should be fun. First I play the spell card, Soul Absorption." The spell card appeared on the field. "This continuous spell gives me 500 life points for every card that gets removed from the game."

"He's going to remove cards from play?" Chumley wondered.

"Well, why not?" Jaden shrugged. "He doesn't have many life points left, so that would be a good move."

"What are you plotting?" Victor asked suspiciously.

"Just something that I couldn't do before I had enough fiend type monsters in my graveyard."

Victor was now on alert at that statement.

"Now I remove my three fiend monsters from my graveyard…" Norman placed Summoned Skull, Archfiend of Gilfer and Jowls of Dark Demise on the side. "so I can summon Dark Necrofear!" He then placed another card on the table, making a purple specter appear in the air. It then formed into a dark blue-skinned, bald woman wearing metal chain breast plate, purple leg and arm guards and carried a broken baby doll in her hands. ( **ATK: 2200** DEF: 2800 LV: 8)

"N-no way." Victor muttered nervously.

The spectators had different reactions to the new monster.

"Aw man." Syrus shuddered.

"Creepy." Chumley added.

"That is one scary lady." Matt commented.

"It sure is." Jaden replied. "But how tough can it be? I mean, she must have some kind of trick. Otherwise, summoning a monster with 2200 attack points won't do much."

Andrew observed Victor's expression. "Well, Victor seems to be on alert. So I believe this Dark Necrofear is very dangerous."

Victor was still staring at the demonic woman nervously. "I can't believe you would play that monster!"

Norman gave him a smug look. "I'll take it you're aware of her powers? Then you know that you're about to get your butt kicked. But let's focus on my spell card…" The Soul Absorption card glowed. "Since I removed three cards from play, I regain 1500 life points."

 **Norman: 0600-2100**

"Now I'll attack with Dark Necrofear. And the target I choose... is Archfiend's Manifestation!"

Some of the spectators were confused by this.

"What? Why would he attack something that's stronger than _his_ monster?" Shiori wondered.

"Because he wants to destroy his own monster." Michael answered, getting everyone's attention.

"Destroy his own monster?" Matt repeated.

"So you're saying that monster's special ability…" Xander said.

"Is the kind of ability that can be activated when it's destroyed." Michael filled in.

"That's the only logical reason." Bastion nodded.

The blue-skinned woman's eyes started to glow red as she prepared her attack. Victor looked grim. _'There's no way I'm gonna let that happen!'_ He then flipped up the facedown card he placed earlier. "I activate the trap card, Shift! This lets me give you a new target for your attack. Which means you're attacking Rogue Doll instead." His two monsters disappeared for a second before reappearing in each others' places. And just before Dark Necrofear fired red laser beams from her eyes that blew up Rogue Doll.

 **Victor: 3800-3200**

Norman shrugged. "Okay. I'll just end my turn with a facedown monster." He concluded as he placed a card on the table.

Victor growled before he drew his next card. When looked at it, he grinned. "Ha! Just what I need!"

"Huh?" Norman blinked.

"I discard Marionette Mite from my hand to activate its effect." Victor placed the card he drew on his graveyard. And then, a new creature appeared. It appeared to a tall and slim, stuffed animal. Its body was purple and had a white grotesque face. It also had six pairs of legs. The three pairs on the lower part of the body were insect like, while the other three pairs were like scythe blades. "By discarding this monster from my hand, I can take control of a zombie or fiend type monster you control until the end of my turn."

"What!?"

"Which means I can take your Dark Necrofear." The twelve legged monster jumped over to Norman's field and attached itself to the blue-skinned woman's head. She wandered over to Victor's side.

"Try to duel with your own cards!" Norman said angrily.

"But it's more fun to use others' cards. Speaking of which, I'll use your Dark Necrofear to attack your facedown monster!" Once again, the blue-skinned woman fired laser beams from her eyes. The attack made its way on the field, getting closer to Norman's facedown monster. And then, it flipped up, and was then replaced by a zombie that crawled up from the ground. (ATK: 500 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4) Victor smirked. "Gotcha."

But Norman smirked back. "Guess again."

"Huh?"

"Activate trap!" His facedown card flipped up. "Bark of Dark Ruler! When one of my fiend type monsters is in battle, I can pay some of my life points and then drain that same amount from your monster's strength until the end of this turn. As much as I want to pay enough to give you damage, I think I'll play safe and just pay two hundred points to keep Earthbound Spirit safe."

 **Norman: 2100-1900**

( **ATK: 2200-2000** DEF: 2800-2600) Dark Necrofear's laser beams hit the zombie. But because of her points being weakened, the attack had no effect. Victor clicked his tongue. "Fine, I'll attack it with Archfiend's Manifestation instead. Go, Sinister Lightning!" The skeletal fiend monster fired another stream of lightning and destroyed the zombie. "I end my turn." At that, Marionette Mite disappeared, and Dark Necrofear returned to Norman's field. ( **ATK: 2000-2200** DEF: 2600-2800)

"Then here goes." Norman said as he drew his next card. "First I'll play the spell card Graceful Charity. This lets me draw three cards and discard two from my hand." He drew three cards and looked at them. He then smirked as he held up two of them. The one in the front was a spell card. "I'll toss these two, one of them being the spell card known as Card of Compensation." He placed it on the graveyard. "As soon as I send this card to the graveyard, I get to draw two more cards."

He drew two more cards, looked at them and then nodded. "I place one card facedown and activate Burial from a Different Dimension." A facedown card appeared on the field, along with the named spell card. "Thanks to this, I can return up to 3 monsters that were removed from the game to the graveyard. And I'll take back those that I removed to summon Dark Necrofear." He took the named cards and placed them on his graveyard. "Now let's try this again. Dark Necrofear, attack Archfiend's Manifestation!" Once again, the blue-skinned woman fired laser beams from her eyes. But the Summoned Skull lookalike unleashed purple lightning from his body that blocked the attack and zapped her until she exploded into pixels.

 **Norman: 1900-1100**

Norman was now smirking. "And now I activate Dark Necrofear's special effect. At the end of the turn she was destroyed as a monster, she becomes an equip spell with the power to take control of one of your monsters. So if you don't mind, I'll take back my Archfiend." The spirit of Dark Necrofear appeared and entered the skeletal fiend's body. And then, it walked over to Norman's side of the field.

"Aw man. How many times are they going to take control of that Archfiend?" Syrus wondered.

"Who knows? But you gotta admit, this duel is so sweet!" Jaden said with excitement in his voice.

"Speak for yourself." Shiori muttered.

Andrew glanced at his Ra yellow friend. He understood that he was still mad for what Victor did to him.

"Enough of this!" Victor drew a card. Once the card caught his eyes, he grinned evilly.

Which Norman noticed. "What did you get?"

"Something to turn this around. But first, I summon Grand tiki Elder in attack mode." A demonic witch doctor wearing a fright mask appeared. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 800 LV: 4) "Next I activate the spell card, Silent Doom. This lets me summon a normal monster from my graveyard in defense mode. So I'll bring back Melchid the Four-Face Beast." The monster with many masks appeared again. "And then I'll do this; by removing 2 monsters from my field…" His two monsters disappeared. "along with a monster from my graveyard." He picked up Rogue Doll. "I can summon a monster known as The Atmosphere!" A whirlwind came out of nowhere. Norman watched as a monster emerged from it. It appeared to be an orange bird with armor and two pair of feathered wings. It was holding a green sphere with its talons. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 800 LV: 8)

He wasn't really impressed. "You gotta be kidding me. That's your big move? All you did was summoning a weakling by removing three monsters from play. And that just makes me stronger, thanks to Soul Absorption."

 **Norman: 1900-3400**

But Victor smirked. "Does the term 'special ability' mean anything to you? Because you should realize that my new monster is more powerful than it looks. Hey, Atmosphere. Show him what you've got!" The sphere the bird was holding started to glow with a green light. Nothing didn't seem to happen at first.

But then, Norman noticed his Archfiend's Manifestation getting dragged to it for some reason. "What the…!?" And it was then the fiend monster was sucked into the sphere. "What did you do!?"

"That is The Atmosphere's ability. It can absorb one of your monsters and steal all of its attack and defense points."

"What!?" ( **ATK: 1000-3500** DEF: 800-2000)

"Let's see you get out of this! Now Atmosphere, attack him directly!" The bird flew up in there as the sphere glowed again. But this time, the sphere showed an image of Norman's monster before it unleashed purple lightning.

Norman growled. "You may have stolen my monster, but I won't let you steal my victory!" He then flipped up his facedown card. "I activate my trap! Spirit Shield!" From the trap card, a group of white ghosts appeared and merged together to form a white shield, blocking the electric attack.

"No way!" Victor exclaimed. "My attack was blocked!"

"How observant of you. And its all thanks to my trap card." Norman explained as he held up his Earthbound Spirit card. "By removing one zombie or fiend type monster from my graveyard, I can stop one of your attacks. So as long as I have monsters I can remove from play, my life points are safe."

 **Norman: 3400-3900**

"Well, that was remarkable." Bastion commented. "Norman has Spirit Shield as defense, and Soul Absorption, that gives him life points by using its effect."

"As much as I hate that guy, he is a formidable duelist." Andrew admitted.

"Fine. Your move." Victor concluded.

"Alright then." Norman drew a card. "I play a facedown monster in defense mode." A facedown card appeared. "And that's all for now."

"Hmph." Victor drew a card. "I activate Pot of Greed. So I draw two cards from my deck." He drew his extra cards. _'As long as that trap card is in play, my attacks will be blocked. But only if that meathead has enough fiend type monsters in the graveyard.'_ He then smirked as he looked at his new cards. _'Fortunately, I have a way to get rid of it.'_ He then placed one card on the table. "All right, I'm feeling generous today. Since I've been taking your cards, you can have one of mine." The card he played disappeared into the table.

Norman was confused by Victor's words before the card in question came out on his side. He then widened his eyes upon seeing its image. "Grinder Golem?" At that, the mechanical giant with the buzz-saw blade head appeared on his field. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 300 LV: 8)

"That's right. The monster that can only be summoned on my opponent's side of the field. But doing that gives me two Grinder tokens." Two mini versions of Grinder Golem appeared on Victor's side. ( **ATK: 0** DEF: 0 LV: 1) x2 "Then I activate the spell card Token Sundae."

"What does that do?"

"It lets me destroy all token monsters I have on the field." The two Grinder Tokens exploded into pixels. "After that, I get to destroy cards up to the number of tokens destroyed by this effect. So for my two Grinder Tokens, I'll destroy your Spirit Shield and your facedown monster."

Norman growled as his two cards were destroyed.

"And now that Grinder Golem served its purpose, I'll destroy it with The Atmosphere!" The bird's green sphere unleashed purple lightning and zapped the mechanical giant until it exploded.

 **Norman: 3900-3400**

"I end my turn. How do you like that?"

"Hmph. Not bad... for a common thief."

Victor scoffed at Norman's reply.

"My move." He drew a card. He then smirked. "Now let me show you how it's done. I summon Holding Arms in defense mode." A pair of golden shackles with the millennium symbol at the center appeared. (ATK: 500 **DEF: 1200** LV: 4) "And when these shackles are summoned, they will bind your monster, preventing it from attacking. Plus, its special abilities are negated."

"No way!" Victor could only watch as the shackles held the bird creature's wings, keeping it in place. ( **ATK: 3500-1000** DEF: 2000-800)

"And that's a wrap. Your turn, pickpocket." Norman concluded with a smug look.

"You'll pay for that!" Victor drew. "This isn't much, but useful." He placed his card on the table. "I play Creature Swap. This spell card forces one monster from each side to switch places. And we obviously only have one monster each." Since the shackles were attached to the monster on Victor's field, they both flew over to Norman's field. "Now you won't get to me without getting through Holding Arms."

Norman narrowed his eyes. _'That will be tricky. As long as the monster affected by Holding Arms is on the field, they can't be destroyed.'_ He then drew a card and looked at it. _'_ _Fortunately, luck is on my side.'_ He thought smugly. "I activate the spell card Dark Factory of Mass Production. This lets me take two normal monsters from my graveyard and add them to my hand." He picked up Summoned Skull and Archfiend Soldier. "Then I'll sacrifice The Atmosphere to play my Summoned Skull." The bird disappeared, causing Holding Arms to return to Victor's field. And then, the original, skeletal fiend rose up on the field. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 1200 LV: 6)

Victor clicked his tongue.

"Summoned Skull, use your Lightning Strike on Holding Arms, now!" The fiend monster fired electricity at the shackles and destroyed. "That's it for now."

"Lucky punk." Victor muttered.

"Lucky? More skilled. Skilled enough to defeat you. And my cards prove that I'm skilled enough to take down Wilson."

Andrew narrowed his eyes. "Okay, I think I understand what this is about."

"When it comes to Norman, I'm not really surprised." Jenny said while shaking her head.

"You think Victor might be the same?" Matt wondered.

"I don't know. And to be frank, I don't care." Shiori muttered.

"My move." Victor drew. "I place a card facedown and end my turn." A facedown card appeared on his field.

"Is that all?" Norman asked unimpressed while drawing a card. "I summon Archfiend Soldier!" The sword wielding demon rose next to Summoned Skull. ( **ATK: 1900** DEF: 1500 LV: 4) "Now attack his life points directly!" The demon rushed over while raising his sword.

"I reveal my facedown spell card, Scapegoat." Victor's facedown card flipped up and out of it, four sleeping sheep with different kind of colors emerged. (ATK: 0 **DEF: 0** LV: 1) x4

"Huh?" Norman blinked.

"This card lets me summon 4 Sheep Tokens in defense mode."

"Fine, then I'll just destroy two of them with my Soldier and Summoned Skull." The Archfiend slashed one of the sheep with its sword while the skeleton monster zapped another one with its lightning. "Then I'll end my turn with a facedown." Norman said as he placed a card on the table.

Victor drew card. "I play Card of Demise. Now I can draw until I have 5 cards in my hand." After drawing a new hand, he looked at his cards. He then grinned. "Bingo! I activate the spell card Monster Reincarnation! By discarding one card from my hand, I can take a monster from my graveyard and add it to my hand. And I know just the one." He discarded one card and then picked up the monster card he wanted: Masked Beast Des Gardius."

Norman couldn't help but groan. "Don't tell me that you're going to summon that thing again."

"As much as I want to, I can't. But I _am_ going to use it. As soon as I play this…" Victor placed a spell card on the table. "Final Ritual of the Ancients."

"What is that?" Norman asked suspiciously.

"A ritual spell card which lets me sacrifice monsters with a total level of 8 or higher and summon a really powerful monster. So I'll sacrifice my level 8 monster Des Gardius in order to summon Reshef the Dark Being!" The masked beast appeared for a second before disappearing. And its place, a certain stone giant, with there multi-colored light orbs appeared. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 1500 LV: 8)

Seeing this made Shiori annoyed. "Great, now he's stealing one of my tactics as well."

Micheal patted his back. "Easy there dude."

"But you gotta admit, that is impressive." Clover said.

"No joke." Xander replied.

Norman stared at the new monster. "Okay, I'll bite. What can that thing do?"

Victor smirked. "I'm glad you asked. This monster lets me take control of one of your monsters for one turn, as long as I discard a spell card from my hand."

The fiend duelist cringed as his opponent discarded the last card from his hand.

"Now give me your Summoned Skull!" The three orbs floating in front of Reshef started to unleash lightwaves. And then, the skeleton monster walked slowly over to Victor's field.

"You bastard." Norman growled.

"Now it's game over for you. Summoned Skull, destroy his Archfiend Soldier." The skeleton monster started to charge up with electricity.

"Guess I have no choice." Norman muttered before he flipped up his facedown card. "I play the trap card, Hate Buster!"

"What!?" Victor exclaimed.

"This trap card activates when you attack one of my fiend type monsters. This lets me destroy both of them. And then, you take damage equal to your attacking monster's original attack points." Light erupted from the ground under the feet of both monsters before they were caught in explosions.

 **Victor: 3200-0700**

"Aw man." Syrus gasped.

"What a bang." Chumley commented.

"No joke." Jaden added.

Victor growled. "So you stopped one attack. Big deal! You just left yourself wide open. Reshef, direct attack!" The stone giants three orbs merged together to form big orb of golden light. The orb then fired an energy beam at Norman.

 **Norman:** **3400-0900**

"And now it's your turn, loser."

"You little…" Norman drew his next card angrily.

"Just give up already, there's no way you can beat my deck." Victor said smugly. "Because it's fool proof. Not even those who made a fool out of me will stand a chance."

"What do you know?" Bastion mused. "Looks like you were right."

"Uh-huh." Matt nodded.

Shiori just glared at Victor.

Norman looked at the card he drew. And then, after about 5 seconds of silence, he started to laugh.

Victor narrowed his eyes. "What are you laughing at?"

"i'm laughing at you, pickpocket. You claim to have a foolproof deck, but I happened to draw exactly what I need to end this duel."

"You're lying."

Norman smirked. "You think so? Then let me show, by sacrificing your Reshef and one of your Sheep Tokens!"

"Say what!?" Was all Victor said before the stone giant disappeared, along with one of the sheep.

"And now, to play this bad boy…" Norman placed his card on the table, but it then disappeared into the table.

It then cameo out on Victor's side, which he noticed. "What the…?"

All of a sudden, a pool of lava rose up from the field and took form of a big, humanoid blob creature. Skeletal remains of victims could be seen from within its body. It also had a cage hanging around its neck. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 2500 LV: 8)

Saying that Victor was shocked, would be an understatement. "N-no way! Lava Golem!?"

"That's right. And if you know about it, you should know what's next. The player controlling this monster takes 1000 points of damage during each of their standby phases."

The spectators were shocked as well.

"My, that would be just what Norman needed." Bastion said. "Victor only has 700 life points left. Which means…"

"That it's game over for you." Norman stated. "So this the end of my turn, and this duel."

"THIS CAN'T BE!" Victor exclaimed in shock and fell backwards as a small part of Lava Golem's body melted.

 **Victor: 0700-0000**

"Hahaha! You lose, I win! You lose, I win!" Norman cheered.

"It can't be…" Victor muttered as he hung his head defeated.

Norman huffed proudly. "And now with the test of my deck successful, I can take down Andrew and win Jenny's heart."

"You don't say." A voice said.

Norman and Victor snapped out of their thoughts and turned to the source of the new voice. What they didn't expect was that the voice belonged to Andrew, who was standing right in front of his friends.

Norman stared at him blankly for a moment before he jumped back in shock. "W-what!? Wilson!? Why are you here?"

Jenny stepped forward and spoke up. "We heard that you two were trying to force a Slifer to duel you. When we came, we learned that you two wanted to use your improved decks against Andrew and the others."

The two bullies turned completely white upon hearing her explanation.

"So all of you…" Norman began.

"Watched our duel?" Victor filled in.

"Got that right." Shiori replied while crossing his arms.

"Never missed anything." Matt added.

Norman slapped his head. "Dammit! All the hard work of improving my deck was for nothing!"

"Now those losers know all my strategies!" Victor added before he gave him a glare. "This is all because you let that Slifer get away!"

Norman got into his face and gave him a glare of his own. "Me? You're the one who let him escape!"

"Don't blame me, you stalker!"

"I just did! What are you gonna do about it, pickpocket?"

And just like that, the two bullies found themselves inside a dust cloud as they fought each other.

The gang watched this with awkward looks on their faces.

"Ookay?" Jaden said slowly.

"Didn't see that coming." Alexis said.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" Syrus asked.

"Why? Those two are just making trouble." Shiori pointed out.

"Can't argue with that." Matt replied.

The group stared at the brawl until Michael spoke up

"So... anyone up for exploring more of the island?"

"Good call." Bastion said.

"I'm in." Xander added.

"Fine by me." Clover added.

And so, the group left area, leaving the brawling Obelisks alone."

* * *

 **Okay, that took me** **relatively long. But not as long as it took for the last chapter at least. Anyway, I hope you liked this. Until next time.**


	37. Chapter 37

**What a Toon**

"Boy oh boy! So yummy!" Jaden said while munching on some dumplings from a box he was holding.

After the gang watched the duel between the duel between Norman and Victor, they explored more of the island. They eventually came to a grassy area near the ocean where there appeared to be food stands set, like Pegasus mentioned. And it was a perfect timing, since it was around lunch time.

"Yeah, it's pretty tasty." Chumley agreed as he ate his own dumplings. "Although, I'd rather have…"

"Please! Don't you dare say grilled cheese." Matt pleaded.

"What's with him and grilled cheese?" Michael wondered while holding a cup full of soda with a straw in his right hand.

"I've been asking myself that question many times." Syrus replied with a hot dog in his left hand.

A bit away, Andrew, Jenny and Clover were standing in front of another food stand, trying some food.

Clover, for example, was trying a small box full of takoyaki. "Mmm, tasty."

"Found something good?" Andrew asked with a chicken leg in his right hand.

"Yeah, it's takoyaki. They're so delicious. Here, have a taste." She turned to him as she offered him a stick.

Andrew hesitated at first before he took the stick and tasted the takoyaki. But about two seconds after taking a bite, he was suddenly coughing. "(Cough! Cough!) That was... a little spicy…"

"I know, right?" Clover said with a smirk.

Jenny, who was standing behind with a cup of soda in her right hand, watched as Andrew tried to recover from the spiciness. She glanced at her drink and him again. She then approached him and held up the drink in front of his face.

"Here. Drink this." She offered.

"T-thanks." Andrew took the cup and sucked on the straw for a bit before he sighed in relief. "Ah, much better. Thanks again." He said while giving the cup back.

"No problem." Jenny said with a smile. She was about to drink some more, but realized something as she stared at the straw. _'Wait a minute. I just shared my drink with him. Which means…"_ She then covered her mouth with her free hand while turning red. _'Oh my god! Did we just… just...'_ She was now so embarrassed that steam was coming out of her head.

Clover noticed the embarrassed look on Jenny's face. She even took note of the fairy duelist's focus on her drink. The drink she shared with Andrew with. Wait! Shared?

...

...

Now it was Clover's turn to become red in her face. After putting two and two together, she realized what this was all about. _'No… freaking… way!'_ She couldn't resist the glare she gave her.

Andrew managed to get used to the spiciness from the takoyaki he was eating. He then noticed that both of his female friends were awfully quiet. "Is something wrong?"

They snapped out of their musings before turning to him.

"Oh, it's nothing." Jenny quickly said, trying her best to not act awkward

"Nothing at all." Clover added, being the same as her.

Andrew glanced between them for a moment before he shrugged. "Okay."

And when he wasn't looking, the two girls glared daggers at each other.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere nearby, an Obelisk Blue boy was walking around with his hands in his pockets. He had messy, orange hair with jet black highlights, dark green eyes, and lightly tanned skin. This was none other than James Napier. The Toon duelist who caused so much trouble on April Fools Day. He stopped for a moment to take a look around him. On his left, he noticed another Obelisk Blue boy offering an Obelisk Blue Girl a cup of soda, which she took while giggling. And when he looked to his right, he saw another Obelisk couple. The Obelisk girl was feeding the boy a stick with dumplings.

Eventually, James let out a deep sigh. "Man, look at them. Couples here and there. It must be great to be in love." He then let out another sigh. "But no one has shown any interest in me. What a tragedy." He placed a hand on his forehead in a dramatic way. He stood there for a moment before he balled his hands and developed a determined look on his face. "Alright! There's only one thing to do…" And then, from nowhere... he picked up binoculars. "It's time to find a pretty girl!" With that, he rushed to the top a cliff that overlooked the food area. And then, he checked the area through his binoculars.

"Now then, let's see who to go after…" He muttered as he looked around. He then happened to find two girls. "Ohh, those two look promising." James said with a grin, which instantly dropped when he saw their faces. "Wait a minute…" Apparently, those two girls were none other than Jasmine and Mindy. "Oh right, those two were there when I got busted that time on April Fools Day."

A thought bubble appeared above his head, with the image of him laying on the ground and getting stomped by the angry Jasmine and Mindy. "Yup, those two won't do." The image of the thought bubble was covered by a red X as a buzzing sound was heard.

He then kept searching searching. He eventually found another candidate. An Obelisk Blue girl with long black hair, with her back turned to his direction. "Hmm. Maybe this one?" When the girl turned around, he got a good look on her face. She had grey eyes and some of her hair covered the left side of her face. This made James blink twice. "Oh, that's Tracey Medina."

He then tapped his chin with a thoughtful look on his face. "If I remember correctly, this chick teamed up with that Norman guy and faced Andrew and Jenny in a tag duel. According to a rumor regarding that duel, Tracey was trying to win a date with Andrew." He then looked at her through his binoculars. "Not to mention she called him 'Andy', so I wouldn't be surprised if she still has a crush on him. Sooo… she's a no-no."

With that, he kept searching. _'There must be someone I can go after...'_ As he was starting to get frustrated, he stopped when he spotted another girl. And wow! This one is really good. Green eyes. Scarlet red hair. Red Jacket. At that, James whistled wolfishly. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!"

* * *

After having their lunch, the gang left the food stands and walked around on the island.

"Ah, I never thought they could make such good food." Jaden commented while rubbing his stomach.

"And I never thought you could actually eat enough from every one of those stands." Andrew replied dryly.

"That's Jaden for ya." Syrus said.

Alexis, Jenny and Clover shook their heads.

"Seriously. I thought the guys at north ate much." The Xander commented.

"Trust me, you should have seen how he stuffed himself at the Valentines Day Festival." Shiori replied.

As soon as Jenny heard him, she suddenly remembered a certain thing she tried to do, before Tracey showed up and interfered. She then got the same feeling she had when she attempted to to tell him, thus, placing a hand over her heart. However, that caused her to remember the drink thing earlier and turned red again.

Alexis didn't seem to notice her friend's embarrassed state for once. But Clover, on the hand, noticed and gave her an annoyed look. Not that Jenny noticed due to her embarrassment. Clover was so focused on the fairy duelist, she didn't notice that she walked right to a trip wire set at a tree. And as soon she stepped on it...

"Huh?"

Something fell right in front of her face.

"Ah!"

The rest of the gang jumped at her startled reaction.

"Whoa! What happened?" Michael asked as he and the others approached the girls.

"What is that?" Bastion wondered, referring to the object dangling in front of them.

Strangely enough, it was a clown-like doll with rainbow-colored clothes.

"A clown doll?" Chumley asked.

"Who would set up a clown doll like this?" Matt wondered.

"Whoever it is, I don't like their sense of humor." Clover remarked.

Andrew rubbed his chin. "Who would do this?"

The answer to that was hiding behind some bushes nearby.

"Ohh, she's almost cute when she's startled." James commented. "Now I really want her."

Unbeknownst to him, someone was hiding behind some trees just a couple meters away from him. An Obelisk Blue girl with white hair in a french bob hair cut.

* * *

Anyhow, that clown doll was just the beginning. Clover became victim of more pranks.

1: The group walked around the area, completely unaware of James hiding behind a tree. He reached into his pocket and picked out what looked like a toy cockroach. A clockwork item that players can wind up and release, whereupon it will move around on the floor. And this toy was much bigger than a real cockroach. He winded it up and released it, making it move away from him. The group's attention were redirected to the sound of the moving toy. And because it came very close to Clover, she screamed and jumped by its appearance.

2: The group took a break at a big rock. And once again, they were unaware of James, who was hiding behind the same rock. Clover, who was sitting on the ground near the rock, failed to notice him when he placed a small, multicolored can right at her left hand. It didn't take long for her to move her hand and touched the can, thus noticing it. By curiosity, she picked up the can and opened it... only to scream when a spring snake jumped out.

3: When the group were walking around on the island, James prepared something with another tripwire at another tree. Once he was finished, he ran off before the gang arrived. Clover glanced from right to left, trying to look out for anything crazy. Unfortunately, she accidentally stepped on the tripwire. And what fell down this time, was a bunch of spiders. Fake spiders, to be exact. But that didn't stop her from screaming once again.

* * *

"THAT'S IT!" Clover roared angrily. "Who is the idiot who keeps playing jokes on me!?"

"Clover, deep breaths. Deep breaths." Andrew said to her, trying to calm her down.

"Wow, this just isn't her day." Jaden commented.

"Seriously. Who is behind all of this?" Shiori wondered.

"And what do they have against Clover?" Matt added.

"Who indeed." Bastion said.

"Geez, this is just like April Fools Day." Michael said while rubbing the back of his head. "There were practical jokes from left to right, courtesy of James."

"Who?" Xander asked.

"James Napier. An Obelisk Blue." Alexis responded.

"He's a practical joker who caused much trouble during that day." Jenny explained.

"He even convinced two other Obelisks to help carry out the pranks." Matt added.

"They even placed a stink bomb inside their own dorm." Bastion mentioned.

"Fortunately, we managed to turn them in... after Jenny defeated James in a duel." Andrew added.

Clover, who finally calmed down a bit, had a thoughtful expression on her face. "Do you think he's the one who's pranking me?"

"I wouldn't be surprised by that." Matt replied.

"Well, maybe we should report this to Chancellor Sheppard?" Alexis suggested.

"EEP!"

Everyone jumped when they heard someone yelp nearby.

"What was that?" Syrus wondered.

Clover seemed to be focusing on some bushes. She gave them a glare and approached them. "Okay, I know you're there. Show yourself before I drag you out!"

The group waited for what felt like 10 seconds. Eventually, the person hiding behind the bushes stepped forward. That person was...

"James?" Michael widened his eyes.

"So it really was him." Chumley said.

"Yup. Not surprising at all." Matt commented.

Clover gave James an angry look. "Alright pal. Time for some answers. Why pull off those pranks on me? What did I ever do to you?"

"You didn't do anything at all." James replied nervously.

"Then why the pranks?" Clover pressured him.

"Well…" The prankster was silent for a moment before he blushed a little. "Because you are cute when getting scared?"

"Huh?" Clover was now really confused. She's been victim to his pranks, all because she was cute when getting scared?

Alexis however got a hint of this and figured out what it was all about. "Wait. Are you trying to say... you have a crush on her?"

"Huh!?" All boys turned to her in shock. Jenny developed an expression of realization. As for Clover, she gave James a disturbed look.

"You... must be kidding."

"No, it's true!" James replied quickly. And before Clover knew it, he was down on one knee, holding her right hand lovingly. "You, my dear, managed to capture my heart. Your hair is as enticing as the sky during the sunset itself. And your eyes are like the finest emeralds in the world."

Clover's left eye twitched in annoyance while the rest of the gang sweat dropped at this.

The redhead quickly got her hand out of his grasp. "Give me a break! You're pulling some pranks on me, and expect me to what? Date you!?"

"Why not? We could walk along on the beach." James suggested as he suddenly held up a red rose in front of her face.

But Clover just swatted it away. "I don't think so! Now leave me alone!"

But the toon duelist grasped her right hand again. "Can't we at least go somewhere and learn about each other?"

Clover was now starting to get really pissed as she slowly rose her left fist. "I am so gonna…!"

But someone grabbed her left wrist. She turned around to see Jenny who looked at her seriously. "Take it easy, Clover! Punching him won't solve anything."

"Then what do you suggest I do?"

Jenny was about to answer, but Jaden beat her to it and jumped in with a grin on his face. "Easy! If you can't convince him with words... then duel him!"

"A duel?" Clover looked at him with a confused look.

"Sometimes I wonder if we really have to solve every problem with a duel." Andrew muttered while shaking his head.

But Clover seemed to consider the suggestion and turned to James. "Alright. I'm in. If I win, then you'll leave me alone."

James smirked. "Okay. Only if you agree to this; If I win, you have to go on a date with me."

Clover sighed but nodded. "Fine."

"We can't have one single day without something crazy happening, can we?" Syrus groaned.

* * *

At that, the gang, plus James, searched around for a dueling arena they could use. Eventually, they found one near the ocean, not too far away from the food stands they visited earlier. James took his place on the red podium, while Clover took her place on the blue one.

"Well then. Here goes." Michael said.

"Say, what kind of duelist is James anyway?" Xander asked.

Bastion turned to him. "From what the others told me, James is using a deck full of Toon monsters."

The mechanic was surprised. "Toon monsters? Like Pegasus?"

"Yeah." Shiori replied. "Apparently, the Industrial Illusions had a competition where you could win your own set of Toon cards. And... long story short, James was the winner."

The mechanic looked back at the arena. "Then this might be a little problematic for Clover."

"Don't worry. She can do this." Andrew said confidently.

The duelists drew their opening hands.

"DUEL!"

 **Clover: 4000**

 **James: 4000**

"I'll go first." Clover declared and drew her sixth card, which she placed on the table instantly. "And I'll start with the spell card known as Card Advance. This lets me take a look at the top 5 cards from my deck and place them in any order I want." Clover drew 5 cards, looked at them and rearranged them before returning them to her deck.

"Not bad." Matt commented. "With that, she'll be able to draw the card she might need for later."

"But that's not all it does." Jenny added.

"That's right." Clover said. "Due to the second effect of my Card Advance, I can tribute summon 1 monster in addition to my normal summon this turn. So for starters, I summon Axe Dragonute!" A certain, axe wielding dragon rose up on her field. ( **ATK 2000** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And next I'll sacrifice it in order to summon Strong Wind Dragon!" The axe wielding dragon disappeared as new one appeared. This dragon was big, muscular and blue green. It had a long tail and wings that stretched out widely. ( **ATK: 2400** DEF: 1000 LV: 6)

"Hey, nice move." Jaden said.

"Awesome!" Syrus added.

"And it gets better." Bastion said.

"What do you mean?" Chumley asked.

"He means this." Clover spoke up. "If Strong Wind Dragon was summoned by sacrificing a dragon type monster, it absorbs half of that monster's attack strength." The dragon roared as it gained power. ( **ATK: 2400-3400** )

"Nice." Alexis said with an impressed tone.

"You go, girl!" Jenny cheered.

"I end my turn with a facedown." Clover concluded as she placed a card on the table.

"Well, a powerful monster on your very first turn. You are skilled _and_ beautiful." James complimented.

"Just go!" The redhead said impatiently.

"Take it easy. That was just a compliment." The toon duelist drew a card. "But perhaps I can make you laugh with my moves... starting by playing 1000 life points in order to activate a special spell card."

 **James: 4000-3000**

"1000 points?" Andrew mused before it dawned on him. "Oh no!"

"Is he…?" Jenny wondered worriedly.

"I activate... Toon World!"

(Play Toon World theme)

The familiar green book appeared and opened up with a giant smoke with cartoon sound effects. And as usual, words like 'POW' and 'BOOM' flied off. Once the smoke cleared, the book showed a castle.

"You must be joking." Clover said disbelieved.

"Nope." James nonchalantly. "As you can see, I'm a Toon duelist. And I'm about to show you how hilarious my monsters can be. But first, I'm gonna summon Rescue Rabbit in attack mode." The monster that appeared on James' field was a small, grey/white rabbit that was wearing a yellow hard hat with goggles. ( **ATK: 300** DEF: 100 LV: 4)

"A rabbit?" Matt mused. "What good would that do?"

"Much more than you think." Shiori replied with a frown.

"Indeed. You see, by removing this monster from play, I can summon 2 level 4 or lower normal monsters from my deck with the same name." The little rabbit disappeared as James began to search through this deck. "Have you ever heard that rabbits can multiply? If not, then you're going to be surprised, because for my Rescue Rabbit, I play two copies of Dark Rabbit." Two identical monsters appeared from a puff of smoke. Not from Toon World, but on the field. The new monsters were tall, dark rabbits, each dressed in a blue tunic and white gloves. And on top of that, both of them looked cartoonish. The two rabbits wrapped their arms around each other and laughed. ( **ATK: 1100** DEF: 1500 LV: 4) x2

"More rabbits." Syrus noted.

"But none of them is strong enough to take down that dragon." Chumley pointed out.

James shrugged. "True. And that's why I'm going to sacrifice them to summon another monster."

"But you already made a normal summon, so you can't summon another monster." Jaden protested.

"Unless the next monster is a toon." Bastion countered.

"Correct." The Toon duelist replied with a smirk. "Some of the Toon monsters are known for being able to be special summoned when I have Toon World in play. And the Toon monster I'm about to summon requires two sacrifices." The two rabbits laughed again before jumping into Toon World. The book then closed itself. "Say hello to the almighty Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon."

The spectators gasped.

"No way! Blue-Eyes!?" Shiori exclaimed.

The book spun around in place before opening up and released another puff of smoke. The smoke cleared quickly and revealed the monster in question. If it were the original monster, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, then it would have been a big, white-scaled dragon with blue eyes, wings and bony arms with three claws and a thumb. But this Toon Dragon was like a cartoonish mini version of the original. It even laughed maniacally to empathize its appearance. ( **ATK: 3000** DEF: 2500 LV: 8)

"Dude, talk about weird." Michael said while raising an eyebrow.

"I know." Jaden replied. "A Toon version of Kaiba's favorite monster."

"I think I know why he hates that card." Andrew stated.

"Yes, it's just so sad." James sighed as the Toon Dragon streamed tears from its eyes.

"But since it's a Toon monster, that dragon can attack Clover directly." Syrus said worriedly.

"True, but like the other Toon monsters, the dragon has a certain weakness." Bastion responded. "It can't attack the same turn it's summoned."

"Which might give Clover a chance to destroy it since her dragon is stronger." Matt added.

But James smirked and wagged his finger. "If you have watched cartoons, then you should have known better than jinx people." He then placed a card on the table. "I activate the spell card Shine Palace." At that, the pop-up castle shined brightly. "By adding this twist... I mean equip spell to a light monster, like my Blue-Eyes, that monster gains 700 attack points." The Toon Dragon's body became a little more muscular. The dragon then flexed its muscles as if showing off. ( **ATK: 3000-3700** )

"Oh boy." Xander said worriedly.

"And I'll end my turn with a facedown." James placed another card on the table.

"Alright then." Clover drew. "I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards." She drew extra cards. "And I'm about use one of them right now." She placed the card in question. "The spell card, Stamping Destruction."

"Huh?" James widened his eyes.

Clover smirked. "Since I have a dragon type monster on the field, I can use this card to destroy one spell or trap card on the field. After that, the one controlling that card takes 500 points of damage. And my target is... Toon World."

James gasped while the Toon Dragon's eyes bugged out. "No, you can't!"

"Oh yes she can." Michael retorted with a smirk. "The Toon monsters have another weakness. As soon as Toon World leaves the field, they are automatically destroyed."

"And that leaves James wide open." Alexis added.

"Now go! Destroy Toon World!" At Clover's command, Strong Wind Dragon flew over to James' field dived toward the Toon World book. The Toon dragon panicked comically as the opposing dragon finally stomped the book, causing a big explosion.

 **James: 3000-2500**

Everyone watched as the smoke was about to clear while Clover's dragon returned to her.

"Lishus! The Toon Dragon is gonzo." Chumley cheered.

"Now all that's left for Clover is…" Jaden said before he stopped at mid sentence when the smoke finally cleared.

The book was gone...

But to everyone's shock, Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon was unharmed.

"What!? The dragon is still there?" Shiori asked.

"But how?" Syrus wondered.

Clover gave James, who was chuckling, an angry look. "What did you do?"

"Oh, me? I just activated my facedown card before my Toon World fell." He pointed at the card that was now revealed. "It's called Forbidden Chalice."

"What does that do?" Xander asked.

"Simple: It gives a monster 400 attack points for one turn. But during that time, that monster's special abilities are negated."

Jenny widened her eyes. "Then that means…"

"My Toon Dragon's 'weakness' is negated as well, meaning he'll stick around." The Toon Dragon pulled the bottom of its right eyelid and blew raspberry. ( **3700-4100** )

Clover sighed. "Fine, I'll end my turn." ( **ATK: 4100-3700** )

"I thought you would." James drew. "First I place a card facedown." He placed a card on the table. "Then I'll pay 500 life points so my dragon can attack."

 **James: 2500-2000**

"Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon, attack! White Lightning!" The dragon breathed in so deeply, that its belly swelled up like a balloon. And then, it fired a beam of energy.

"I activate Negate Attack!" Clover's facedown card flipped up and created a barrier that blocked the attack. "Thanks to my trap card, your attack is cancelled."

"Playing hard to get, are we? Oh well. I'll just end my turn."

Clover drew a card. "I play a facedown and that's all." A card appeared behind her dragon.

James drew a card and looked at it. _'Perfect.'_ He smirked and placed it on the table. "I place a card facedown as well. And that ends my turn."

"Why isn't he attacking?" Syrus wondered.

"Maybe he's wary of her facedown card." Matt assumed.

"Either that or he just didn't want to waste too much life points." Alexis added.

"My move." Clover drew. "I play a facedown monster in defense mode and end my turn." A facedown card appeared next to Strong Wind Dragon.

"Alrighty then…" James drew a card. "Time to do kick things up a little. Starting with this…" He flipped up one of his facedown cards. "I activate the trap card Pikeru's Circle of Enchantment. During this turn, any effect damage I'll take becomes 0."

"Why would he use that card?" Jaden wondered. "I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that ' _paying life points'_ doesn't count as effect damage. So it can't be useful for attacking with Toon Dragon."

"Indeed." Bastion agreed. "So what could James be planning?"

"Now I reveal my other facedown card." James flipped up the card in question. "Aegis of Gaia. When this trap card is activated, I gain 3000 life points."

 **James: 2000-5000**

"That's a lot of points." Chumley commented.

"True, but Aegis of Gaia is a continuous trap card with a weakness." Jenny said. "As soon as it leaves the field, it will cause 3000 points of damage to the one who activated it."

Jaden scratched his head while raising an eyebrow. "Is that why he used Pikeru's Circle of Enchantment? Is he predicting that his trap is going to be destroyed this turn?"

"Predicting?" James repeated. "I was more like _preparing_ for its destruction. By this spell card…" He held up a card. "Magic Planter. This lets me send a continuous trap card I control to the graveyard and draw two cards. So I'll toss out Aegis of Gaia." He placed the named card on the graveyard and drew two more cards.

"So that's what he planned." Bastion realized. "Quite brilliant."

"Dude, we're supposed to root for Clover, remember?" Michael reminded him.

James looked at his new cards. "Well, looky here. We're about to stumble into the next plot twist of this story."

Clover became wary. "What are you up to?"

"Something like this…" James drew 5 cards from his deck. "By removing 5 cards from my deck, I can activate the field spell known as Toon Kingdom."

Everyone gasped again.

"What!? There's a field spell version of Toon World?" Andrew exclaimed

To answer his question, a giant pop-up book similar to Toon World out of a puff of smoke. When it opened, it revealed a pop-up version of a castle. But unlike the one from earlier, this one had some additions. Torches and tress without leaves.

"That's right." James said proudly. "And while it's on the field, it counts as Toon World. Meaning we're all back where we started."

Clover groaned. "Great."

"Of course, my Toon Kingdom is full of other surprises, but let's save that for later. I play a facedown." James placed a card on the table. "Then I'll pay 500 points so my Blue-Eyes can attack again."

 **James: 5000-4500**

The dragon took a deep breath again, but before it launched an attack...

"I reveal my facedown spell card…" Clover's facedown card flipped up. "Half Shut! This lets me cut a monster's attack points in half for one turn. And I choose your Blue-Eyes."

"It won't work." James said bluntly

"What!?"

"With Toon Kingdom in play, you can't target my Toon monsters with spell, trap or monster effects. So your spell is useless."

Clover cringed.

"Which means you'll suffer the full strength of my attack!" Toon dragon let out another beam of energy. And this time, Clover was hit by it.

 **Clover: 4000-0300**

"Clover!" Andrew called out.

"This is bad." Jenny said. "Not only is Clover almost out of points, but James' Toon monster becomes harder to defeat."

"She better do something. She can't survive another attack." Alexis pointed out.

"But the question is how." Xander said.

"I end my turn." James concluded.

Clover panted a little due to the amount of damage she just took.

"You seem to be tired." The Toon duelist noted. "I'll tell you what. How about you surrender the duel, and we can look for a place where you and I can take a rest. All alone."

"In your dreams." Clover retorted and drew a card. She glanced at it for a moment and turned to James. "If you think I'm gonna let you win, then think again. I reveal my facedown monster." The facedown card flipped up and released a black-haired warrior in armor with a sword and shield. He was also wearing a red cape and a pair of goggles. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "His name is Dust Knight and he has a flip effect. I'm allowed to send an earth monster from my deck to my graveyard." She took a monster card from her deck and placed it on her graveyard. It had the image of a flower with red and white petals in a small pot. "And by removing this card from my graveyard, I can use its effect." She placed the card on the side.

"Huh?" James blinked.

"Confused? Then let me explain it to you. This monster is called Amarylease. By removing it from play, I'm allowed to summon a monster with 1 less sacrifice than usual. For example, I can now sacrifice Dust Knight and nothing else in order to summon this…" The knight disappeared and was replaced with a certain purple-armored warrior with a big sword. "Buster Blader!" ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2300 LV: 7)

"Sweet!" Jaden cheered. "Her ace monster.

"It's about time she summoned him." Andrew added.

James wasn't worried. "Ooh, big bad Buster Blader." He said mockingly.

"Don't get too cocky. My Buster Blader will take down your dragon. Especially since he gains 500 attack points for every dragon type monster on your field and in your graveyard." ( **ATK: 2600-3100** )

"That's not enough to destroy my Toon Dragon."

Clover smirked. "Then it's a good thing I have this…" She held up a spell card. "Lightning Blade. I can equip this to a warrior type monster and give it 800 attack points." The Buster Blader's sword was now sizzling with electricity. ( **ATK: 3100-3900** )

"Nice one, Clover!" Alexis cheered.

"You go!" Jenny cheered.

"Buster Blader, attack! Destroy his Blue-Eyes with Lightning Blade Attack!" The purple armored warrior leaped forward and swung his sword.

Everyone expected the dragon to be destroyed. But to their surprise, it stretched out of the way.

"What just happened?" Chumely asked.

"That dragon just stretched out of the way." Michael noted, still as surprised as the rest of the gang."

"But how?" Clover asked.

On que, James laughed. "What do you think? Toon Kingdom of course. Whenever one of my Toons would be destroyed, I can save it by simply taking the top card of my deck and remove it from." He explained as he took away the top card of his deck.

"But Buster Blader has more attack points, so he should have caused some damage." Matt pointed out.

"That would be the case if I didn't have this trap card in play." James pointed at the his facedown that was now revealed. "My Spirit Barrier. As long as I have a monster on the field, I take no battle damage."

"Aw man." Syrus moaned. "Then Clover can't damage his life points either."

"This will be tough." Jaden commented.

"True, but I know Clover can turn this duel around." Andrew said confidently.

The redhead smiled at his words. _'He's right. This duel isn't over yet.'_ She placed a card on the table. "I play a facedown and end my turn."

"Alright then. My move." James declared and drew.

"I activate the trap card Frozen Soul!" Clover flipped up her facedown card. "If my life points are at least 2000 lower than yours, then you're forced to skip your next battle phase."

The gang sighed in relief.

"Good. At least Clover is safe for now." Xander stated.

"And hopefully, she can make a comeback." Shiori replied.

James made a thoughtful pose. "Hmm. So I can't attack,huh?" He then shrugged. "Oh well. At least I can play the spell card Comic Hand." As soon as he placed the named card on the table, the Toon kingdom closed for a second and opened up again, releasing a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, a stretchy, white-gloved hand appeared. "This card happens to be one of the ideas I came up with for the contest where I won my Toon cards. And this is the effect I gave this card: By equipping it to one of your monsters, I can take control of it and turn it into a Toon."

Clover gasped at his explanation.

"And I know just the one. Your very own Buster Blader."

The dragon/warrior duelist could only watch as the strecthy hand grabbed the purple armored warrior and pulled him into the book closed. "Meet the new and improved Toon Buster Blader." When it opened up again, it released another puff of smoke, from which Buster Blader appeared. But to Clover's dismay, the warrior was now cartoonish and chibi-fied. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2300 LV: 7)

Clover stared at Buster Blader's new form for about 5 seconds before she gave James a very annoyed look. "What on earth have you done to my Buster Blader!?"

"I just made him cuter, that's all." James replied innocently.

"Cuter? I don't think cute is the right thing to say about Buster Blader, wether it's a Toon or not." Michael said while giving the monster in question a weird look.

"You can say that again." Andrew agreed.

James tapped his chin. "Let's see. You _did_ mention that Buster Blader gains 500 attack points for every dragon type monster on the opponent's field and in their graveyard. So... with your Strong Wind Dragon on the field and Axe Dragonute in your grave, he gains 1000. And he's still equipped with Lightning Blade, giving him 800 more points." The cartoonish warrior spun the sword as it sizzled with electricity. ( **ATK: 2600-4400** )

Clover clicked her tongue at the power boost.

"But like you said, I can't attack because of Frozen Soul. So I'll end my turn."

Clover stared at her ace monster. _'This is bad. He has a combo that protects his monsters and his life points. And if that wasn't_ _enough, he stole my Buster Blader. There's no way I'm gonna let him get away with this.'_ She drew a card.

"Come on, sweetheart. Just give up so we can have some fun."

"I play Swords of Revealing Light!"

"Huh?" A bunch of swords made of light energy appeared and surrounded the toons.

"Thanks to this, you can't attack for 3 turns."

James pouted. "You're no fun."

"Now Clover has three turns to figure out how to win." Jenny stated.

"Let's hope that's enough." Alexis replied.

"I end my turn." Clover concluded.

James drew a card and looked at it. "Aha! The spell card Field Barrier." When he placed the card on the table, a barrier surrounded the Toon Kingdom book. "Thanks to this, my field spell can't be destroyed. And on top of that, none of us can activate a new field spell. And that's it for now."

Clover frowned. _'That means I can't destroy Toon Kingdom without destroying the Field Barrier.'_ She drew a card and looked at it. _'A Feather of the Phoenix. I'm not sure how it can help me. But it might come in handy later.'_  
"I pass."

"Suit yourself." James drew a card. "I on the other hand am gonna summon Toon Mermaid in defense mode." The pages in Toon Kingdom flipped to show an underwater city filled with bubble and fish pop-ups. And then, from a puff of smoke, a green haired mermaid with a shell bra, blue tail appeared. She carried a bow and arrow and was lying inside a giant clam, which appeared to have cartoonish eyes on top. (ATK: 1400 **DEF: 1500** LV: 4) "And that's all for now."

Clover drew again. She looked at her new card and widened her eyes. "Okay." She said with a smile.

"Hm?" James raised an eyebrow.

"First I'll place one facedown." Clover placed a card on the table. "Then I activate the spell card A Feather of the Phoenix. By discarding 1 card from my hand, I can take a card from my graveyard and place it on the top of my deck."

"Is that good?" Syrus asked skeptically.

"It certainly is." Andrew said with a smile. "If everything goes right, then that move can turn this duel around."

James overheard them. _'Not if I get a say in this.'_

Clover discarded a card and took another one from her graveyard and placed it on her deck. "It's your move."

James drew a card and looked at it, before glancing at the other one in his hand. The toon duelist smirked. "I don't know what you're up to, but there's no way I'm gonna let you get away from me." He placed a spell card on his table. "I activate the spell card Star Blast. By paying multiples of 500 life points, I can reduce the level of a monster on my field or hand by 1 for each 500 points I paid. And I'm going to reduce the level of this bad boy." He revealed a monster card in his hand. Everyone noticed that this was another Toon monster. They also noticed that it looked like Barrel Dragon due to the long cannons on the monster's arms and forehead. But it was of course more cartoonish. It's color was more light purple than the original and it had orange cartoonish eyes.

"Is that Barrel Dragon?" Jaden asked.

"More like Toon Barrel Dragon." Shiori corrected.

"Yup, that's right. A really powerful level 7 monster. I _could_ give up enough life points to summon it without a sacrifice. But I'm gonna play safe and pay 500 life points. Nothing more, nothing less."

 **James: 4500-4000**

"And with that, I'll sacrifice Toon Mermaid to summon my little friend." Toon mermaid went into the book before its pages flipped to show a pop-up factory. And then, the small, cartoonish Barrel Dragon lookalike jumped out of it. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2200 LV: 7-6) "And now for my Toon's special effect." James smirked as he picked up a coin. "Once per turn, I can toss a coin three times. And if at least two of the results are heads…"

"Then you can destroy one of my monsters, right?" Clover interrupted.

However, James' smirk remained as he wagged his finger. "That, my lovely Clover, is the original's ability. My Toon Barrel Dragon's ability is an improvement. It can destroy _any_ card on the field."

Everyone gasped.

"Any card!?" Syrus exclaimed.

"That means he can destroy spell and trap cards as well." Matt realized.

"Including Swords of Revealing Light." Michael added.

"That's right. So with any luck, I can get rid of that card right now, and I'll win the duel and a date."

Clover didn't like this at all. _'This is really bad!'_

"Now then, shall we?" James flipped the coin. When it landed on his hand, it showed a side that had a single dot. "Ah, tails. Two times left." He tossed the coin again. When it landed, it showed a side that looked like the Millennium Eye. "Yes, heads! Third time's the charm." The spectators watched worriedly as he tossed the coin a third time. But this didn't worry anyone more than Clover. The coin landed on James' hand. The result was...

...

...

Tails!

James slapped his forehead. "Damn!"

Everyone else sighed in relief.

"Wow! That was close!" Jaden said.

"Yeah. Clover was really lucky there." Chumley added.

Andrew nodded with a smile. "Which means she's got one more chance."

James sighed in disappointment. "Fine, I'll end my turn." With that, the Swords of Revealing Light disappeared.

Clover smirked as she drew her next card. "Too bad for you. Because now I can end this duel, starting with this…" The card she drew was a certain spell card.

"Stamping Destruction?" James mused.

"That's right, which means I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field."

"That may be true, but my Toon Kingdom is protected by my Field Barrier."

"I know, that's why I'm going to destroy it." When she placed the card on the table, Field Barrier shattered into pixels. "And don't forget, my spell card deals 500 points of damage."

 **James: 4000-3500**

"And with that out of the way, I can take you down."

James just smirked. "Did you forget? My Toons are safe, thanks to my field spell. And with Spirit Barrier, I'm safe from battle damage."

Clover shook her head. "You said earlier that I was planning something, right? So, didn't you think I had something more than my spell card?"

James looked at her confused. But it was then he noticed the card behind Strong Wind Dragon. "Wait! Your facedown card!"

Clover smirked. "That's right. I was waiting for the right moment to use it. And now it's time!" Her facedown card flipped up. "Activate Dust Tornado!"

James gasped. "Oh no!"

"Oh yeah!" Andrew cheered, along with the others.

"With this trap card, I can destroy one spell or trap card. And I think you can guess which one…" A tornado appeared blew the Toon Kingdom book blew away. This caused the Toon monsters scream comically.

"Brilliant!" Bastion praised. "Without Field Barrier, she was able to get rid of Toon Kingdom."

"And the best part is the Toon monsters will be destroyed." Jenny added.

And true to her words, the Toon monsters disappeared, one after the other. Or rather… Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon and Toon Barrel Dragon did. To everyone's confusion, Toon Buster Blader was still there.

"Wait! What about Buster Blader? Why isn't he destroyed?" Syrus wondered.

It was then the gang noticed the Comic Hand card glowing red. And then... it exploded.

"Whoa! Did you see that?" Matt asked.

"I'm sure we all did." Shiori replied.

"But how?" Michael wondered.

Alexis seemed to have realized it. "It must have been the field spell. I think Comic Hand can only remain on the field if Toon World, or in this case, Toon Kingdom stayed on the field."

"Which means with that equip spell gone…" Jenny said.

"Clover's Buster Blader is free." Andrew filled in.

The cartoonish warrior jumped over to Clover's field. And then, his body glowed brightly for a moment before he turned back to normal. ( **ATK: 4400-3900** )

Clover smiled softly at her ace monster. "Glad you're back." She then turned to James with a serious look.

The toon duelist gulped nervously. "Um, c-can we talk about this?"

"I don't think so. You played some jokes on me and tried to defeat me so you could go out on a date with me. I think it's time you take some responsibility for your actions! Buster Blader, attack his life points directly!" The warrior swung his sword, sending an arc of electricity that struck James and zapped him.

 **James: 3500-0000**

Clover sighed in relief as the podium lowered itself. She walked over to her friends.

"Nicely done, Clover." Xander praised

"Thanks."

"You sure pulled a big one there." Michael said.

"Yeah, I was worried there for a minute." Jenny added.

"I knew you could do it." Andrew said.

"With that done, I think we need to talk, James." Shiori declared as he turned to the Toon duelist.

Only, he wasn't on his podium. In fact, he wasn't anywhere in the area.

"Um, where did he go?" Jaden asked.

"I don't know and I don't care." Clover said bluntly. "I'm just glad this is over."

"Same here. But it's not like he was bullying or something." Matt stated. "He just had a crush."

"Too bad he chose the wrong way to show his feelings." Shiori said.

"But hopefully, he learned his lesson from this duel." Andrew said, earning nods from the rest of the gang.

* * *

The toon duelist happened to be walking around in the forest. And he was quite depressed for what happened.

"Man, what a bummer. I thought I had her, but she beat me. Now there's no way I can be together with her." He sighed sadly. "Man what a tragedy." He stopped walking and decided to sit down on a big rock...

PHHTBHBHT!

But he then jumped upon hearing the sudden, fart-like sound. When he turned around, he found a whoopee cushion laying on the rock. He then scratched his head. "That's weird. I don't remember placing a whoopee cushion there."

"Teehee!"

He then blinked upon hearing someone giggling. It sounded like a girl. He then looked around. "Okay, show yourself! I know you're there!"

He waited for a moment until someone stepped forward from behind a tree. The person was indeed a girl, wearing an Obelisk Blue girl uniform. She had white hair in a french bob hair cut and pink eyes. She smiled at James as she spoke. "Sorry about that. Couldn't resist."

James blinked again before he handed her the whoopee cushion. "Then I guess this is yours."

"Yup." She took it. "Whoopee cushions. A classic."

James couldn't help but smile as he nodded in agreement. "I know, right? But sometimes, you can come up with something original."

"Like when you used the whoopee cushion to trick Dr. Crowler into stepping on a balloon filled with paint?"

James scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Oh yeah, forgot that everyone learned about what I did that day."

"Yeah, shame that you got caught." The girl then held out her right hand. "I haven't introduced myself, did I? I'm Alicia."

"Well, pleasure to meet you. I'm James…" He said as he grabbed her hand to shake it… "BZZZZ!" Only to get a shock as a buzzing sound was heard. When his hand was free, he rubbed it and hissed due to the shock he felt. He then turned to Alicia who laughing while showing a hand buzzer she was wearing in the palm.

"Hand buzzer! Another classic!" She said while still laughing.

But that laughter was short lived when she felt a pair of hands grabbing her shoulders firmly. Those hands belonged to James, who gave her an angry look.

"You've got some nerve. Tricking me with a whoopee cushion and a hand buzzer?"

Alicia started to get worried by his reaction. But then, to her surprise, he suddenly gave he a smirk. "Where have you been in my life?"

The Obelisk girl then smiled at him.

And then, the two Obelisks walked away, with James having an arm wrapped around her. "I think you and I are gonna have some fun together.

* * *

 **Well, looks like I completed this chapter on Christmas Eve. I doubt I'll be able to finish the next one before the end of the year. So until next time, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New year.**


	38. Chapter 38

**Labyrinth of Nightmare**

"Are you sure this is the place?"

"I told you, didn't I? You think I make things up?"

Two Obelisk Blue Boys were wandering around in a dark tunnel that seemed to be leading underground. The cave itself radiated spookiness. It was dark with the exception of a few candles on the walls. The Obelisk blue boy taking the lead had gray, messy hair. The one following him had white, spiky hair.

"Do you honestly believe there is a ghost-lady down here?" The white-haired boy asked skeptically.

"Why wouldn't I? Many of us from Obelisks have been down here and seen her." The gray-haired boy said. "They even shook in fear after coming back. "

"Maybe they saw a pile of skulls or something?"

"Then they would have been talking about 'skulls' instead of ghost-ladies."

"I'm just saying that they might have been mistaken this for…"

"Uuughh."

The boys stopped their tracks upon hearing some moaning.

"What was that?" The white-haired boy asked startled.

"I don't know." The gray-haired boy replied, looking around for the source.

They walked deeper in the cave, despite the nervousness building up inside them. Eventually, they reached what looked like a dead end. A pile of rocks blocking the path.

"Looks like a dead end." The white-haired boy noted. "How about we head back?"

"Nu-huh. We will find that ghost-lady. And when we do, I'm gonna…."

"Uuughh."

The boys jumped as they heard the moaning again. And this time, it became stronger.

"Ah! The ghost-lady! Where is she!" The gray-haired boy exclaimed, turning from left to right comically.

"Gyah!" The white-haired boy yelped in fear.

"What? What is it?"

The white-haired boy didn't say a word. Instead, he stuttered as he shakily pointed to behind his comrade. He then turned around, looking at the pile of rocks again. But then he noticed something sticking out from the pile. It took the shape of a human that seemed to be buried. It wasn't so much light in the cave, so the Obelisk boys couldn't tell the identity of this person. But they noticed that the person was clad in black and had silver gray hair that reached past the shoulders a little. They assumed it was a girl. But then...

"Uuughh."

They started to shake in fear about hearing the moaning again. And what made them more terrified... was that the moaning came from this girl. Now both of them were stuttering. As if the girl heard them, she raised her head to look at them. And then, they saw her face...

...

...

Pale, white skin, red eyes, and blood stain on her forehead!

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"

* * *

As usual, the gang was walking around on the island. They saw dueling arenas wherever they looked, but each one of them was occupied.

"Aah. Is there any dueling arena we can use?" Jaden complained.

"Unlikely, considering how many academy students there are on this island." Bastion noted.

"At least we get to see so much of this place." Andrew stated.

"That's true. I still can't believe we got to visit Pegasus." Michael said.

"I know. Anyone coming to this place would be lucky." Matt added.

As they walked, Clover turned to left and noticed something unusual. "Speaking of Pegasus, isn't that him over there?"

Everyone followed her direction and saw the creator of Duel Monsters from a distance. And he wasn't alone. He seemed to be talking to Chancellor Sheppard with some of the black clad men standing behind the former. And for some reason, both of them had concerned looks on their faces.

"Yeah, it is." Alexis said.

"Chancellor Sheppard, as well." Jenny noted.

"What do you guys think they are talking about?" Syrus asked.

"Beats me." Matt replied.

"Well, let's find out!" Jaden said as he quickly made his way to the two important men.

"Hey! Hold on, Jaden!" Andrew called out.

"Does he ever run out of energy?" Shiori asked exasperated.

"Nope, not really." Chumley answered as the gang follwed the brown-haired Slifer.

As the gang approached them, Sheppard was the first one to notice. "Oh, hello there, everyone. How are you doing?"

"We could ask you the same thing." Jaden responded.

"You seemed to be concerned about something. Did something happen?" Andrew asked.

The one who answered that question, was Pegasus, who let out a sigh. "As matter of fact, something _did_ happen. We've been asking other students about this incident. Since all of you are here, you might want to hear this."

Everyone blinked at his statement.

* * *

 _After hearing Pegaus'_ _explanation..._

"A ghost-lady?" The gang said together.

Shepard nodded to confirm what they heard. "That's right. Recently, a few of the other students found an entrance leading to tunnels underground and decided to explore there. And then, when they came out of there, they've been talking about finding a frightening ghost-lady down there."

"Aw man." Syrus said he and Chumley shook in fear.

"That sounds a little doubtful. I mean, a ghost? Really?" Shiori said skeptically.

"You forgot about Jaden and Co.'s encounter with Jinzo." Andrew retorted. "That incident proves that duel spirits are real. So what are the odds that ghosts wouldn't exist?"

"I still find it doubtful, though."

"Doubtful, indeed." Pegasus agreed. "I've seen many unusual things in my life, and I would have known anything about ghosts lurking around at my home. This is most troubling."

It was then an idea popped in Jaden's mind. "Well I say we check it out. Let's head to the tunnels and find this phantom!"

Everyone gasped at his declaration.

"Dude, you can't be serious, right?" Michael asked.

"There's no way I can let you go down there." Sheppard retorted sternly.

"I have to agree with Sheppard." Pegasus added. "The tunnels are spread throughout the entire island. It's like a labyrinth down there."

"That would be problematic." Bastion commented.

"You think?" Xander asked sarcastically.

Andrew had a thoughtful look on his face. After he hummed, he looked up at the Chancellor. "I'm just wondering. Did those who went down there give any details about this ghost-lady?"

Sheppard raised an eyebrow. "Well, the last two students who returned mentioned that rocks were piled up on her. And also, they mentioned that there were some blood on her forehead. What of it?"

While Syrus, Chumley, Alexis, Jenny and Clover shuddered at the description of the 'ghost-lady', the others looked Andrew curiously as he thinking about it. And then, it hit him. "What if this ghost-lady wasn't a ghost, but rather, a living person?"

"What makes you say that?" Matt asked.

"Well, based on what Chancellor Sheppard just said, I have a feeling that a person could have walked down in the tunnels, got into an accident, and got hurt."

Everyone widened their eyes at Andrew's theory.

Bastion rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That would be possible. The bloodstain on the so called ghost-lady's forehead could have been caused by an injury."

"But who could this person be?" Shiori wondered.

"Maybe another student?" Alexis suggested.

"Perhaps." Sheppard admitted. "Pegausus told me that he never let anyone down there since the Duelist Kingdom tournament, so I wouldn't be surprised if another student is the cause of this."

"But if that's the case, then this person is injured and needs help." Andrew realized and formed a firm look on his face. "We need to find her!"

"Are you seriously considering to look after her, despite hearing what Pegasus said about the tunnels?" Xander asked disbelieved.

"Knowing Andrew, I'm sure he is." Clover replied while shaking her head. "He's just the kind of guy who would help others, no matter how troublesome it would be."

"Then, what are we waiting for?" Jaden asked expectedly.

Sheppard couldn't help but smile at how willing the students wanted to help.

Pegasus felt the same. "Well, that's noble of you. I guess it can't be helped. Very well, I'll lead you to the tunnels." He then gave them a serious look. "But like I said, it's like a labyrinth down there, so all of you have to stay close to me. Is that clear?"

"Yes." Everyone nodded.

"Then we better get moving. Follow me." Everyone followed him as he guided them to the place.

* * *

Eventually, the group reached the destination. It was a hidden stairway going underground, not too far away from Pegasus' castle.

"Is this the place?" Sheppard asked.

"Yes." Pegasus confirmed. "Now, please mind your steps."

* * *

Everyone walked down the stairs for some time. Eventually, they came across a door. When they opened it and stepped inside, they found themselves inside a huge room, artificially constructed out of natural smooth boulders. What got their attention was the giant dueling arena in the middle of the room. But unlike those spread on the island, this one had four stands instead of two.

"Hey, look! A dueling arena!" Jaden pointed out.

"And this one seems to be made for tag team duels." Shiori noted as he glanced at the four stands.

"That's right." Pegasus replied with a smile. "In fact, this is where Yugi boy teamed up with Joey boy in their very first tag team duel."

"For real?" Matt asked in surprise.

"Then that would mean…" Jenny spoke up. "This is where they dueled against the Paradox Brothers."

"No way!" Clover said astounded.

"Ahem…" Bastion cleared his throat. "Pardon me, but I thought we've come here to find the injured student."

"And the mood is ruined." Syrus commented.

"But he's right though." Sheppard said. "We need to find the missing student."

"Yes, of course." Pegasus nodded. "Follow me." With that, the group moved on.

* * *

When they left the big room, they went through what seemed to be an area with stone walls leading to all directions, like a maze. But with Pegsus' guidance, they were able to get through without getting lost. Eventually, they found themselves inside the cave tunnels. Of course, some of the people weren't enjoying the walk in here.

"Aw man. Can this place be any creepier?" Syrus wondered.

"Dark caves. How come that we're always visiting spooky places like abandoned dorms and dark caves?" Chumley muttered.

"Can you guys stop your complaining?" Alexis asked annoyed.

"Besides, it's not that scary." Jaden said nonchalantly.

"Speak for yourself." Matt muttered.

The group walked for what felt like an hour. They eventually arrived at a fork in the path.

"Okay, which way do we go?" Andrew asked.

"Both ways look so inviting." Xander said dryly.

"Don't worry." Pegasus assured the group. "I know the tunnels as well as I know the inside of a dueling glove. We'll start by taking the right path and…"

But while the creator of Duel Monsters were talking, Bastion, who was at the far back of the group, was about to approach them when his right foot slid into the ground. "Great Scott!"

That got everyone's attention.

"What's wrong, Bastion?" Shiori asked.

"I don't know. I think I stepped on a switch of some kind." The intelligent Ra Yellow student analyzed.

"A switch?" Pegasus repeated before his eyes widened. "Oh my, you just triggered one of my traps!"

Now everyone's attention was focused on him.

"Whoa, stop there! Did you say traps?" Michael asked in shock.

Before Pegasus could reply, a rumbling came from behind.

"Wait! What's that sound?" Clover asked alerted.

As if on cue, it didn't take long for the source of the sound to reveal itself; a giant boulder was making its way towards them. And the most logical reaction everyone made was screaming.

"A BOULDER!?" Andrew exclaimed.

"Wait, hold on…" Pegasus tried to say, but the others were understandingly panicking, so they tried to run away from the boulder. Due to their panic, the group ended up splitting up; Andrew, Bastion and Xander ran down the left passageway while the rest of the gang took the right one. And as for the boulder... it followed the former group.

"Oh no! That boulder is going to crush Andrew and the others!" Jaden cried out.

"We got to save them!" Jenny said.

"That won't be necessary!" Pegasus called out.

"What do you mean 'not necessary'!?" Clover asked. "There's a freaking boulder chasing our friends, dammit!"

"It's not real!"

Everyone paused after hearing his words for a moment until: "Huh?"

"Like I said." Pegasus said. "It's not real."

"Not real? What are you talking about?" Alexis asked.

It was then Pegasus gave them an embarrassed look. "Well, you see…"

* * *

Meanwhile, Andrew and the others tried to get away from the boulder.

"A trigger to release I giant boulder!? What was Pegasus thinking!?" Bastion asked.

"Forget about that, just keep running!" Xander cried out.

The trio kept running and running, but the chase went on. And just when they thought it couldn't get any worse, they reached a path that was blocked by a pile of rocks.

"No way! A dead end!" Andrew cried out.

The trio turned around as the boulder got closer.

"This is it! We're about to get crushed!" Xander said in fear.

They all closed their eyes, bracing themselves for their eventual demise. The boulder finally caught up with them and it made contact...

POP!

Only to burst into little tiny bits and pieces of rubber and plastic. The boys blinked, completely dumbfounded.

"Was that…?" Andrew began to say.

"A balloon?" Xander filled in.

Bastion glanced downward and noticed an orb-shaped speaker on the ground. "Look. That speaker must have been what made that rumbling sound.

"So we were just chased by a fake boulder?" Xander asked disbelieved.

Andrew looked almost very annoyed. "It appears that's the case."

* * *

"A fake boulder!?" Everyone said at the same time after hearing Pegasus' explanation.

"That's right." He said while rubbing the back of his head. "When I first hosted the Duelist Kingdom tournament, I figured I could have some fun with those who decided to sneak into this place."

Everyone sweat dropped at that.

"Um, some fun?" Jaden asked.

"Define fun." Shiori added

Clover had an annoyed look on her face. "Pranks. It just had to be pranks."

"Easy there." Alexis said , trying to calm her down.

"Well then…" Sheppared spoke up. "If that's all, then we should look after the others."

"Indeed. Follow me." With that, everyone followed Pegasus to the fork and took the path Andrew and the others took.

* * *

"Why on earth would Pegasus of all people set up a bizarre trap like a fake boulder?" Xander asked annoyed.

"Why indeed." Bastion replied.

"For the president of Industrial Illusions, he sure has a crazy sense of humor." Andrew remarked. "We better get back to the others."

"And how exactly are we going to find them?" The intelligent Ra asked. "We were so focused on getting away from that boulder, we got lost on the way."

Xander grimaced. "Great. Just great."

"Then, maybe we should…"

"Uuughh."

Andrew stopped at mid sentence when heard someone moaning.

"What was that!" Xander asked.

"That sounded like someone in pain." Andrew said.

"Look!" Bastion said.

The two boys turned to him before they looked at what he was pointing at. And they were shocked to see what it was. A girl was laying on the ground, with the rocks blocking the path pinning her legs down.

"A girl?" Xander said.

"This must be the one we were looking for." Andrew added.

"Let's help her." Bastion urged before the trio began removing as many rocks as they could. Eventually they managed to remove enough rocks to pull her out of the pile. They then turned her around so she was laying on her back. It was then the trio got a good look at her. The girl had silver gray hair that reached past the shoulders a little and pale skin. And then there was her clothing. She was wearing a black, sleeveless top with a collar, a matching black skirt that was as short as the one an Obelisk Blue girl would wear. She was also wearing black, knee-length socks and boots. The trio also noticed the bloodstain on her forehead.

"Man, look at her." Xander grimaced as he stared at the bloodstain. "She must have hit her head really hard to end up like this."

"Indeed." Bastion agreed.

Andrew looked at her with a concerned look. "We need to do something about her head."

"But how?" The intelligent Ra wondered.

Xander looked around and noticed something at a short distance. "Hey, check it out."

Andrew and Bastion turned to Xander and saw what he found. There were bunch of bags and stuff on the ground.

"What is all of this?" Andrew wondered.

"Probably something the previous visitors left behind." Bastion assumed.

"And it looks like they even dropped this." Xander picked up a white box with a red cross mark.

"A first aid kit." Andrew noted.

"My, how convenient." Bastion said.

"Got that right. Let's get to work." Xander declared.

The boys did their very best to treat the girl's wound. With the stuff from the first aid kit, they wiped off the bloodstain and wrapped some bandage around her head. After that, they placed her back on the ground, with a pillow they placed her head on. Why someone would bring a pillow down here, that was a mystery.

"That should do the trick." Andrew said.

"Now all we can do is wait and see if she wakes up." Xander suggested.

"And perhaps wait for the others to find us while we're at it." Bastion added.

"…mmmh..."

The boys turned to see the girl's eyes stirred a bit before they opened. Her red eyes blinked a few times before she spoke up softly. "What… happened?"

"Oh, you're awake." Andrew noted.

"How are you feeling?" Bastion asked.

The girl managed to get herself into a sitting position before she spoke again. "Pretty fine. But, who are you guys?"

Xander smiled. "Just a bunch of boys who saw a wounded girl and did what anyone would do."

"Assuming that they wouldn't get scared by seeing your bloody face." The intelligent Ra added.

"Bastion." Andrew scolded.

"Sorry."

The girl widened her eyes before she lowered her head. "Oh yeah. I remember now. I found the entrance to this cave and decided to explore it. And it was then when I came here, the cave suddenly collapsed and I've been stuck here ever since. The rest of it has been foggy, but I remember seeing some other students see me, before screaming and running away."

Andrew frowned. "They should be ashamed. I mean seeing someone injured and getting scared before running away? That's just stupid."

"I guess I can't blame them." The goth girl muttered. "As you can see, I'm the kind of girl who likes to be dressed in black and like being in dark and silent places, like this cave. And some people think people like me are scary.

Bastion then placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, getting her attention. "Well, you're lucky that we're not like other people. If we were frightened as easy as those who treated you so bad, we would have run away as well."

"Got that right." Xander agreed. "So, no need to mop around, right?"

The goth girl stared at them for a moment before a small smile formed on her face. "Thanks."

"Now then, how do you feel, miss…?" Bastion tried to ask.

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself. My name is Mahiru Vasilyev from Obelisk Blue." She introduced as she gave them a small bow. "And now that I've got a good look, I recognize you three. I watched your matches at the School Duel" Mahiru glanced at Andrew. "You are Andrew Wilson. A Ra Yellow who's well known for using those Masked Heroes." She then glanced at Bastion and Xander. "And you two faced each other in the second round. Bastion Misawa and Xander Murphy."

"That's right." Bastion replied while Xander nodded.

"As for how I feel…" Mahiru rubbed her bandaged head. "Besides from a headache, I'm perfectly fine."

Everyone then stood up, with Bastion helping Mahiru up. "Then perhaps we should head back and look for the others?"

Before anyone could respond to Andrew's suggestion, they heard something from behind them. When they turned around, they saw the pile of rocks collapsing. And then, the path it was blocking was clear again.

"Jeez, how many collapses are going to occur here?" Xander wondered.

Mahiru blinked when she noticed something from a distance. "Hey, what's that?" She then walked over the rubble and approached whatever she noticed. The boys followed her as they approached the discovery. When they got close enough, they could clearly see that it was...

"A dueling arena?" Xander mused.

It was indeed a dueling arena. Just like the ones above the ground. But this one looked a little different. The platforms, instead of being red and blue, were dressed as tombstones.

"Why would Pegasus have a dueling arena down here?" Andrew wondered.

"Good question" Xander replied. "But right now, we should head back and try to find the others."

"That's easier said than done." Bastion said concerned. "For in case you've forgotten, we got lost when we tried to get away from that fake boulder. Who knows which way we took in this crazy maze?"

"That's a good point." Xander admitted.

Andrew turned back and tried to shout. "Helloooo! Are you guys there!?" The group waited for a moment, but no reply was heard. "Nothing." Andrew sighed.

"What now?" Xander asked.

"Maybe we should wait here for a while, and see if your friends find us?" Mahiru suggested.

"I suppose we can do that." Bastion said as the other boys nodded.

"And in the meantime…" The goth girl walked up to the arena. "How about we have a duel?"

The boys blinked.

"Um, pardon me. But why duel in a situation like this?" Bastion asked skeptically.

"I just think it's better to pass the time while we wait." Mahiru shrugged. "Who knows? Someone might hear the sounds we make when we duel."

The boys looked at each other.

"What do you guys think?" Andrew asked.

Xander shrugged. "I guess one duel won't hurt."

"So, who wants to face Mahiru?"

"I want." Bastion replied directly. "There is a new deck I want to test out. And Mahiru might be the opponent I need to test it on."

Andrew and Xander glanced at each other before looking back at it.

"That's fine." The former said.

"Go at it." The latter added.

With that, Andrew and Xander watched as the duelists took their positions on the platforms.

"Now then, I hope you're ready." Bastion said as he took a deck from one of his holster and placed it on his table.

"I assure you, I'm more than ready." Mahiru replied and placed her own deck on her table.

"Duel!"

 **Bastion: 4000**

 **Mahiru: 4000**

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere in the castle, was a room with a big computer screen. It was showing the words 'Dueling Arenas Active', along with numbers, representing the active dueling arenas. The person sitting in front of the screen, was one of those men dressed in black, wearing shades. He had gray hair and a mustache.

"Hm, everything seems to be in order." He muttered. "Huh?"

He noticed a number in particular blinking.

"Hmm, a new arena is active. Number… 13? But that's one of the underground arenas. I better tell Pegasus."

* * *

Speaking of whom, he and the others were walking through the cave, calling for their friends.

"Andrew! Bastion!" Jaden called out.

"Xander, are you here!?" Clover called out.

"Man, where can they be?" Shiori wondered.

As they kept walking, Alexis noticed the worried expression on Jenny's face. "Are you okay?"

"Okay? How can I be okay? Our friends are lost in some cave-like maze." She sighed and lowered her head. "Where are you, Andrew." She murmured.

Alexis placed a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "It'll be fine. We'll find them. Don't worry."

Jenny turned to her friend and smiled softly, feeling a little better. "Right."

Just before the group could get any further, Pegasus made a halt as beeping was heard from an earpiece he had in his right ear. "Oh!"

"What is it?" Sheppard asked.

"A call from the staff. Just a moment." Pegasus pressed the earpiece. "What is it?"

 _"Sorry to bother you, sir. But something really concerning have just occurred."_

That got Pegasus' attention. "Really? What is it?"

Everyone watched at him as this went on. And then, Pegasus smiled.

"I see. Thanks for telling me that, Croquet." He then let go of the earpiece and turned to the group.

"What was that about?" Michael asked.

"Good news, everyone. I just learned about the location of your friends."

That brightened everyone's mood.

"For real?" Matt asked.

"Yes. Apparently, they managed to find an underground arena."

"What!?" Jaden exclaimed. "Are you saying they're dueling somewhere?" He then pouted. "Without us?"

"Is that what bothers you, Jaden?" Syrus asked as he and Chumley sweat dropped at their friend's question.

"Come on. We better get going." Sheppard urged.

"Couldn't agree more. Follow me." Pegasus said, taking the lead again.

* * *

"I'll go first." Mahiru declared and drew her sixth card. "I play a facedown monster in defense mode." A facedown card appeared. "Then I'll play another card facedown and end my turn." Another card appeared.

"My turn." Bastion drew a card. "And I summon UFO Turtler in attack mode." The monster that appeared on his field was a green turtle with a silver shell. Or rather, a silver metallic ufo for a shell. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Now attack her facedown monster!" The turtle was now hovering over the ground before it flew forward, intending to tackle the facedown monster. When the card flipped up, the monster was revealed. And apparently, this monster was another turtle. But this one looked different from the one Bastion played. It was a brown turtle with a shell that was actually a pyramid. (ATK: 1200 **DEF: 1400** LV: 4)

Mahiru smiled. "Sorry. But I'm afraid my Pyramid Turtle has enough defense to stand up against your monster." Her turtle got into its shell and took the hit from UFO Turtle's attack head on and pushed it back."

"Not bad." Bastion complimented. "I place a card facedown and end my turn." A card appeared behind his turtle.

Mahiru drew a card and looked at it. "This will do." She placed it on her table. "I activate the spell card Pyramid of Wonders. This card gives all my zombie type monsters 200 attack points for every monster on your field." A glowing pyramid appeared above her field and floated in the air upside down. (ATK: 1200-1400)

"A zombie deck, huh?" Andrew mused.

"Now I'll switch Pyramid Turtle to attack mode." The turtle came out of its shell. "Then I reveal the trap card, Coffin Seller." Her facedown card flipped up. "Now attack his UFO Turtle!"

"What? But both of their monsters have same attack points." Andrew said.

"My guess is she wants her turtle to be destroyed." Xander replied.

Pyramid Turtle approached UFO Turtle, and glowed with a red aura as a sandstorm started to form around them.

"I activate my trap card, Backfire!" Bastion's facedown card flipped up. After that, both turtles were completely hidden within the sandstorm. When it died down, they were gone. "Before you tell me your reason for attacking, allow me to explain the effect of Backfire. Every time when at least one of my fire monsters is destroyed, you take 500 points of damage." The trap card fired a stream of flames at Mahiru's field.

 **Mahiru: 4000-3500**

"I guess I owe you an explanation for my attack. You see, when my Pyramid Turtle is destroyed in battle, I can summon a zombie type monster from my deck with 2000 or less defense points. And I think I choose Vampire Grace." In Pyramid Turtle's place, an old woman appeared. She had pale whit skin on her face and was dressed in a dress of British nobility, with a vampirish style. She was also wielding a scepter with a red orb. ( **ATK: 2000-2200** DEF: 1200 LV: 6) "And then, since a monster was sent to your graveyard, the effect of Coffin Seller is triggered. You take 300 points of damage."

Bastion winced when a dark purple aura enveloped him.

 **Bastion: 4000-3700**

"Impressive. However, my UFO Turtle has a special ability as well. When it's destroyed in battle I can summon a fire monster from my deck with up to 1500 attack points. And I choose another UFO Turtle." A duplicate of his first turtle appeared. ( **ATK: 1400** DEF: 1200 LV: 4)

"Then I'll let my Vampire Grace destroy it. Now, Bloody Blast!" The old woman waved her staff as the orb glowed crimson red before she fired a ball of energy at UFO Turtle.

 **Bastion: 3700-2900**

"And with another monster sent to your graveyard, you lose another 300 life points."

 **Bastion: 2900-2600**

"That may be, but thanks to Backfire, you lose another 500 life points."

 **Mahiru: 3500-3000**

"And thanks to my UFO Turtle, I'll get another monster. And this time, I summon Solar Flare Dragon!" A serpent-like dragon in flames appeared. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1000 LV: 4)

"Interesting choice. As for me, I'm moving on by summoning Vampire Sorcerer in attack mode." A man with purple skin appeared. He had long green hair and wore some kind of black trench-coat with a belt. Around his waist he had four purple claws. He was also wearing a pointed hat and held a bat-shaped staff. ( **ATK: 1500-1700** DEF: 1500 LV: 4)

"Another vampire?" Xander noted.

"And now I activate Vampire Grace's special effect." The older vampire waved her staff again, making the red orb glow again. "Once per turn, I can force you to send a card from your deck to the graveyard. And I can choose the type of card you're getting rid of."

"But then..." Bastion widened his eyes.

"That's right. I'm forcing you to get rid of another monster card."

Bastion reluctantly searched through his deck and took a monster card before placing it on the graveyard.

"And now you'll take another 300 points of damage."

The Ra winced as he was surrounded by the same purple aura from earlier.

 **Bastion: 2600-2300**

"Then I'll end my turn with a facedown." Mahiru placed a card on her table.

"Good show." Bastion said and drew a card. "I summon another Solar Flare Dragon in attack mode." Another dragon, identical to the first one, appeared. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1000 LV: 4)

"Another one." Andrew commented.

"That's right. And Solar Flare Dragon has a special ability. If I have another pyro type monster on my side of the field, you can't attack it. And unfortunately for you, my dear, that's exactly what my dragons are."

"Which means I can't attack any of them." Mahiru realized. "But at least they're too weak to destroy my monsters. Especially with the effect of Pyramid of Wonders." ( **ATK: 1700-1900** ) ( **ATK: 2200-2400** )

"True, but I'm not planning to attack with them. They have another purpose. But first I play the spell card Goblin Thief." Bastion placed the named card on the table. "This card gives you 500 points of damage and increases my life points with the same amount."

Now it was Mahiru's turn to wince as she was surrounded by a red aura, while a green aura enveloped Bastion.

 **Mahiru: 3000-2500**

 **Bastion: 2300-2800**

"I place a card facedown and end my turn." He placed a card on the table. "And this activates Solar Flare Dragon's second effect. During each of my end phases, you take 500 points of damage."

Mahiru gasped while Andrew and Xander widened their eyes.

"And since he's got 2 dragons on the field, that makes 1000." Andrew said.

"This is gonna burn." Xander commented jokingly.

Both dragon's opened their mouths wide and unleashed fireballs at Mahiru.

 **Mahiru: 2500-1500**

Mahiru recovered from the blasts. "My turn then." She drew. "I play Pot of Greed. Now I can draw two more cards." She drew her extra cards and looked at them. She then smiled.

 _'It seems she got something useful.'_ Bastion thought as he noticed her expression.

"I activate the spell card, Vampire's Domain." Mahiru placed her card on the table, making its image appear on the field.

The goth girl placed another spell card on her table. "Then I activate the spell card, Overpowering Eye. With this, I can choose a zombie type monster on my field that has 2000 or less attack points. And then, during this turn, that monster has the power to attack you directly." Vampire Sorcerer was suddenly surrounded by a red aura.

"Uh oh. She found a way around Bastion's defense." Xander said.

"But that's not all. I activate my facedown trap card, Robbin' Zombie." Mahiru's facedown card flipped up. "Every time you take battle damage, you must send 1 card from the top of your deck to the graveyard."

"Whoa!" Andrew gasped.

"And now I activate Vampire Grace's ability. Send another monster from your deck to the graveyard."

"Fine then." Bastion replied as he took another monster card from his deck and placed it on the graveyard.

"And with that, Coffin Seller takes effect."

 **Bastion: 2800-2500**

"Now my Sorcerer, attack!" The vampire waved his bat-shaped staff and enveloped red energy ball. And then it took the shape of a giant bat and flew over to Bastion's field. Finally, it tackled him, causing an explosion to occur.

 **Bastion: 2500-0600**

"And now the effect of Robbin' Zombie. Send the top card of your deck to the graveyard."

"Very well, but before that, I activate my trap card." Bastion's facedown card flipped up. "Damage Vaccine Ω MAX. When I take damage, this card lets me regain the life points I just lost."

 **Bastion: 0600-2500**

He then drew the card he was supposed to get rid of and looked at it. He smirked and showed it to Mahiru. "Unfortunately for you, I just lost a trap card instead of a monster." He placed it on the graveyard.

"That's a shame. Oh well…" Mahiru smiled as she suddenly was surrounded by a blue aura. The boys noticed that the same aura surrounded her continuous spell card.

"What's happening?" Xander wondered.

"This is the effect of Vampire's Domain. Whenever one of my Vampire monsters inflicts battle damage, I gain the same amount of life points."

 **Mahiru: 1500-3400**

"My, that's quite impressive." Bastion complimented.

"Thanks."

"So, she's not using an ordinary zombie deck." Xander noted.

"She's using a vampire deck." Andrew added.

"I end my turn." Mahiru concluded.

"My move then." Bastion drew a card. "I place a card facedown and let my dragons end my turn." As he placed a card on the table, the dragons blasted Mahiru with fireballs again.

 **Mahiru: 3400-2400**

Mahiru drew a card. She looked at it before placing it on the table. "I place a card facedown and activate Vampire Grace's ability again. Take another monster from your deck." The older vampire waved her staff again as Bastion sent another monster card to the graveyard.

 **Bastion: 2500-2200**

"And with that, I end my turn."

"Very well." Bastion drew. "I summon Charcoal Inpachi in defense mode." An effigy of a man made of burned-out logs appeared and kneeled down. (ATK: 100 **DEF: 2100** LV:1

"Another monster on your field gives my monsters more points." ( **ATK: 1900-2100** ) ( **ATK: 2400-2600** )

Bastion proceeded by placing another card on the table. "Then I'll play a facedown and let my dragons do their thing." The dragons prepared to unleash more fireballs.

"I activate my trap." Mahiru interrupted as she flipped up her facedown card. "Vampire Domination. When a spell, trap or monster effect, is activated while I have a Vampire monster on my field, I can negate the activation and destroy it."

Bastion's eyes widened before one of the dragons exploded into pixels.

"And there's more. If the card I destroyed was a monster, my counter trap gives me life points equal to its original attack points.

 **Mahiru: 2400-3900**

"And don't forget. Coffin Seller takes away some of your life points."

 **Bastion: 2200-1900**

"Nicely done, but since you destroyed my fire monster, my Backfire card deals damage to you." His trap card fired another stream of fire at Mahiru.

 **Mahiru: 3900-3400**

"And not only that. Your move just triggered my other trap." Bastion's facedown card revealed itself. "This is Puzzle Reborn. When exactly one of my monsters is destroyed by a card effect, I can summon it back to the field." Everyone watched as the serpent-like dragon rose up on the field. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1000 LV: 4)

Mahiru gasped.

"I figured you would try something to destroy my monsters. But now when my two dragons are together again, they can finish what they started." The dragons blasted Mahiru with fireballs once again.

 **Mahiru: 3400-2400**

Mahiru drew a card. When she saw what she got, she nodded. "First I'll use Vampire Grace's ability to send another monster to your graveyard."

Bastion took another monster card from his deck and placed it on the graveyard.

 **Bastion: 1900-1600**

"Then I activate Vampire Domain's effect."

"Pardon?" Bastion asked in a surprised tone.

"So that spell card has another effect?" Xander asked.

"That's right, and it works like this: Once per turn, I can pay 500 life points. Then, I can normal summon a Vampire monster in addition to my normal summon."

 **Mahiru: 2400-1900**

"So for starters, I'll sacrifice my Vampire Sorcerer in order to summon Vampire Red Baron." The Sorcerer disappeared and was replaced by a horseman in heavy black armor that wielded a spear. The horse itself was also armored and its mane and tail were crimson red. ( **ATK: 2400-3000** DEF: 1000 LV: 6) "Then I'll summon Vampire Familiar in attack mode." The next monster that appeared was an unusual bat. It had no eyes or feet. It had a pair of horns on its head and a long, pointy tail. ( **ATK: 500-1100** DEF: 0 LV: 1)

"Yikes! It's a vampire army." Xander said.

"And now I activate Red Baron's special ability. Once per turn, I can pay 1000 life points to do this…"

 **Mahiru: 1900-0900**

The horseman raised his spear as it unleashed a crimson red aura. And then, Vampire Familiar was sudden completely swallowed by red smoke. And at the same time, to the boys' shock, one of Bastion's Solar Flare Dragons was swallowed by red smoke as well. They all waited for a moment until the smoke clear. And it was then they were even more shocked. Because those two monsters were now standing on the opposite sides. ( **ATK: 1100-500** )

"Great Scott!" Bastion exclaimed.

"What just happened?" Andrew wondered.

"This is what my red Baron did." Mahiru explained. "After paying life points, he lets me choose one of my Vampire monsters and let it switch places with one of your monsters."

"And since she took one of the Solar Flare Dragons, she can attack the other one." Xander realized.

Bastion got over his shock before he spoke up. "Not quite. My Charcoal Inpachi is a pyro type monster, so she can't get rid of my dragon before getting through him first."

"Maybe, but I've decided to attack Vampire Familiar to end this duel." Mahiru replied. "Now let's end this! Vampire Grace, attack!" The older vampire waved her staff and fired another energy ball.

"I don't think so! I play Draining Shield!" Bastion's facedown card flipped up and created a barrier that blocked the old woman's attack. "This trap lets me stop your attack and increase my life points with the same amount as your attacking monster's attack points."

 **Bastion: 1600-4200**

"In that case, I'll let Red Baron finish the job!" The horseman charged towards the bat and stabbed it with his spear. ( **ATK: 2600-2400** ) ( **ATK: 3000-2800** )

 **Bastion: 4200-1700**

* * *

The search group (with Pegasus as the leader) was still walking around in the cave, trying to find Andrew and the others.

Boom!

They then heard the faint sound of an explosion.

"Did you guys hear that?" Michael asked.

"Well I did." Jaden replied.

"Me too." Syrus said.

"That sounded like it came from far ahead." Clover observed.

"Then we might be on the right track." Pegasus replied. "Let's move on."

With that, they walked to the direction of the sound.

* * *

 _Back to the_ duel

"And with Vampire's Domain's effect, I gain life points again.

 **Mahiru: 0900-3400**

"And since you took battle damage, Robbin' Zombie's effect activates."

Bastion took the top card from his deck and looked at it. "A monster." He said frowning as he placed it on the graveyard.

"Which means you take from the effect of Coffin Seller."

Bastion winced as the same purple aura from earlier enveloped him.

 **Bastion: 1700-1400**

"I must say, that was well played."

Mahiru smiled. "Thank you. And if you liked that, you're gonna love this…" Vampire Red Baron stabbed the ground with is spear. The boys were then surprised to see crimson red light erupt from that spot. When the light died down, they were even more surprised to see a certain bat sitting on the ground. (ATK: 500-900 **DEF: 0** LV: 1)

"Vampire Familiar?" Andrew said.

"How did it end up there?" Xander wondered.

"My Red Baron has another special ability. At the end of the battle phase, I can summon any monster he destroyed in battle. And it's a good I did so, because now I can use Vampire Familiar's ability. After it's special summoned, I can pay 500 life points in order to add a Vampire monster from my deck to my hand."

 **Mahiru: 3400-2900**

Mahiru searched through her deck and took the card she wanted. A monster card with 2000 attack and defense points. "And I'll end my turn, meaning that you'll take damage from your own dragon." The stolen dragon blasted Bastion with a fireball.

 **Bastion: 1400-0900**

Bastion drew. "First I play Pot of Greed, letting me draw two cards." He drew his extra cards and looked at them.

"I wonder what Bastion's gonna do now." Andrew said.

"That's hard to tell." Xander replied. "With only 900 life points left, he won't last long."

As on cue, Bastion smirked, making Mahiru confused.

"I sacrifice Solar Flare Dragon and Charcoal Inpachi in order to summon Infernal Flame Emperor!" Flames erupted from the ground and swallowed Bastion's monsters. And then, a giant beast arose. It had the body of lion, with its head replaced by a human torso and replaced on the torso's shoulders. Its entire body was made of fire. ( **ATK: 2700** DEF: 1600 LV: 9) "Now, normally that move would let your trap card deal damage, but that won't happen, thanks to my new monster's special ability. When Infernal Flame Emperor is tribute summoned, I can remove up to 5 fire monsters from my graveyard. Then, for every monster I remove from play, one spell or trap card is destroyed."

Mahiru gasped while Andrew and Xander cheered.

"Nice! That means he can get rid of Coffin Seller and any other card he wants." The mechanic noted.

Bastion took up four monster cards from his graveyard and showed them to Mahiru. "I remove these four in order to destroy all your spells and traps." The giant fire creature roared as it smashed the ground and unleashed a wave of fire. The fire quickly spread over the field and covered Mahiru's field as it burned down her spells and traps, one by one. "And since your pyramid is gone, your vampires get weaker." (ATK: 900-500) ( **ATK: 2800-2400** ) ( **ATK: 2400-2000** ) "However, none of them is my target. Infernal Flame Emperor, destroy Solar Flare Dragon!" The fiery creature punched the serpent dragon, making it explode.

 **Mahiru: 2900-1700**

"I place two cards facedown and end my turn." He concluded as he placed his remaining cards on the table.

Mahiru drew a card and looked straight at her opponent. "This duel has been great, Bastion. But I'm afraid I'm about to put an end to it."

"Is that so? Then, do tell. How are you going to end this?"

"I'll show you, starting by bringing out an old friend." On cue, everyone the spirit of someone appear on the field. A certain sorcerer.

"That's Vampire Sorcerer." Xander noted.

"It appears that monster has a trick in his sleeve." Andrew realized.

"Since Vampire Sorcerer is in my graveyard, I can activate his ability. By removing him from play, I can summon a dark Vampire monster without a sacrifice."

"My word." Bastion gasped.

"And the one I summon... is the one I took from my deck during my last turn. I summon Vampire Vamp!" From some dark mist, a young woman appeared. She had long silver hair, and bat-like wings with with small horns covering the top. Her outfit consisted of a top which let her midriff bare and had small a small cape over her shoulders. It also had small, decorative claws at her shoulders and a cross was depicted on the sides of her shoulders. For the rest, she wore a skirt with two claws holding it in place, arm-length gloves, tights and knee-high boots with a cross depicted on them. The vampire gave Bastion a devious smile. ( **ATK: 2000** DEF: 2000 LV: 7)

"I suppose that there's a 90 % chance that she has a special ability you're going to use?" Bastion assumed.

"Correct. And here's how it works; When Vampire Vamp, or a Vampire monster is normal summoned to my field, she can take a monster that has more attack points than her and add those points to herself." The vampire stared at the Infernal Flame Emperor as her eyes glowed red. And then, the fire creature's eyes glowed as well, as it walked slowly over to Mahiru's field until it was standing right behind Vampire Vamp. ( **ATK: 2000-4700** )

"4700 attack points?" Xander asked surprised.

"And on top of that, Bastion's out of monsters now." Andrew added.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Mahiru asked with a proud smile. "My Vampire Vamp has given me countless victories. She's the prime example of how terrifying vampires can be."

Bastion nodded. "Yes, a monster with a terrifying power indeed. However…" He then smirked at her. "I'm afraid your vampire won't be giving you victory this time."

"Huh?" Mahiru wondered. But then, she noticed something important on Bastion's field. "Your facedown cards!"

"That's right. These cards will put an end to this." The first facedown card revealed itself. "The trap card, Ring of Destruction, and…" The other card flipped up. "The spell card, Ring of Defense." A metal ring with red bombs appeared around Vampire Vamp's waist, while a wheel with green metal plates attached to the exterior appeared in front of Bastion and spun really fast, like a propeller. "With Ring of Defense, I can protect myself from taking damage. And that's perfect for Ring of Destruction, because after it destroys a monster, it usually deals damage to both players equal to that destroyed monster's attack points."

Mahiru gasped. "But because of your Ring of Defense…"

"She'll be the only one who takes damage." Xander realized.

"Nice!" Andrew cheered.

The ring around Vampire Vamp's waist detonated and caused a big explosion.

 **Mahiru: 1700-0000**

The holograms disappeared as Andrew and Xander applauded.

"Nice going you two." The former praised.

The duelists got off the podiums and approached each other.

"Impressive dueling." Bastion complimented. "Your dueling skills are remarkable."

"Thanks." Mahiru replied with a small smile. "And you truly know how to play smart."

"That's Bastion for ya!" another voice called out.

The group turned to see Jaden waving to them, standing in front of Pegasus and the others.

"What's up guys?" Michael greeted them.

"About time you showed up." Xander said.

Jenny and Clover approached Andrew.

"Are you okay?" The former asked.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Andrew assured them.

"Seriously, you had us worried." Clover scolded.

"Sorry about that."

The two girls turned to Mahiru.

"I've seen you before." Jenny said. "You're Mahiru, right?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

"After we got separated, we ran into her, with rocks pinning her down." Bastion explained. "Apparently, the cave collapsed and she got hurt."

"My, you don't say." Pegasus noted as he glanced at Mahiru's bandaged head. "Don't worry, young lady. We'll make sure you get the proper treatment."

"Thanks." Mahiru said.

"Well then, let's get back to the surface." Sheppard said.

"Right." Everyone replied.

* * *

After everyone got out of the underground tunnels, they had Miss Fontaine check on Mahiru's injury.

"Well, looks like a happy ending." Jaden commented.

"You could say that again." Andrew replied.

"I'm just glad everything is solved." Shiori said.

"Indeed." Pegasus replied. He then took out a golden pocket watch and looked at the time. "Oh, time sure flies when you have fun. It's almost time for the main event."

Everyone looked at him.

"The main event?" Matt asked.

"What's that?" Clover asked.

Pegasus smiled and wagged a finger. "Uh uh uh. No spoilers here. All of you have to wait until it's time. Until then, enjoy the day." With that, he walked away along with Sheppard.

"What do you guys think this main event is?" Syrus asked.

"Beats me." Chumley asked.

"Hopefully something better than fake boulders." Xander said jokingly.

"Well, whatever it is, I bet it's going to be great." Andrew stated.

* * *

 **Hello everyone. I hope you've been doing well at the start of the new year. I know I have. And I hope this chapter was enjoyable. Until next time.**


	39. Chapter 39

**The Cartoonish Finale**

It hasn't been that long since the gang headed underground and found the mysterious ghost lady, and found out she was actually the Vampire duelist Mahiru Vasilyev from Obelisk Blue. After that little adventure, they decided to relax for a bit before the so called main event Pegasus mentioned earlier. Which leads to the current moment: the sky was starting to become orange in color, and all the students have gathered in front of the stairs leading to the castle, where Pegasus was waiting for them before making an announcement.

"Are all the students here?" Pegasus asked, without waiting for an answer. "Good! Then let's get this started. First of all, I would like to say that I'm so glad all of you could enjoy your stay here. So many duels to watch all around on this island, truly splendid. But now, since we're about to reach the end of the day, it's time for a special surprise."

That made the students whisper to each other, wondering what this surprise is.

"Now then, let me tell you all what it is…" Pegasus spoke up, before he held up something in the air. It appeared to be a Duel Monster card based on its brown colored side. "Before you all arrived here, I took the liberty to hide special cards all around on the island." He turned the card around to show everyone its other side. And to their surprise, it wasn't showing the image for a monster, spell or trap card. Instead, it was showing a number. Number 13. "And each of these cards has a number on it. What I want you to do is try to find one of these hidden cards. I'll give you all one hour to get one before returning here. And when the time is up, one of the numbers will be chosen in random. And then, the one with the lucky number gets a special prize. And that prize is…" He paused for a moment to make it dramatic. And then, finally… "A duel against yours truly!"

And that was it. Countless students became excited by the possibility to duel the creator of Duel Monsters.

"No way! A duel against Pegasus himself?" Jaden asked excited. "This is super sweet!"

"It's not often you get the chance to duel someone like him." Andrew said.

"True." Clover replied. But she then grimaced. "Although, I don't know I feel like facing Toon monsters again."

"Well I would like to give it a try." Michael said eagerly.

Pegasus spoke up again. "Like I said, you all got one hour to get one of the number cards. Try your best and hope that you get the right card. So, let the card search… begin!"

* * *

And just like that, the students were everywhere on the island, searching for a number card. They were looking behind bushes, among tree branches, not to mention they flipped over some rocks that were potentially big enough to hide some cards.

The gang split up to find their own cards. Andrew was looking around at the edges of the forest. "There must be hundreds of those cards hidden here. I'm surprised we didn't even find any when we first came here."

His duel spirit, Phantom Magician, chose that moment to show himself. _"_ _Pegasus must have hidden them very well for you to not notice them."_

"I guess so. Did you find anything?"

 _"I'm afraid I haven't seen any cards so far."_

Just as Andrew was about to say anything else, he noticed someone sitting on the ground, leaning against the tree. That someone, was Shiori. And it appeared that he was rearranging his deck.

"Hey, Shiori."

The ritual duelist looked up and smiled. "Hey, Andrew."

"What are you doing here?"

Shiori looked down at his cards. "Just changing my deck a bit. I better be prepared in case I get picked for the upcoming duel."

Andrew nodded. "Sounds like a good plan. So, did you find any number cards?"

"Not yet. I'll start searching as soon as I'm done."

"Okay then. I'll see you later." He waved to him as he walked away.

 _"Maybe you should prepare your deck as well, in case if you get picked."_ Phantom Magician suggested.

"Yeah, I guess. But that will be after I find one of the number cards…" Just as Andrew finished that sentence, he suddenly tripped and fell on the ground. "Oof!"

 _"Are you okay?"_ Phantom Magician asked concerned.

"I'm fine. Thanks for asking." Andrew looked down toward the ground, and noticed a rock that he assumed was the reason he tripped. "Hm?" He then noticed something underneath the rock. He picked up the rock and to his surprise, he found one of the number cards. This one had number 48. "Hello. One of the hidden cards."

 _"Guess you stumbled into the right path."_ The duel spirit quipped.

"You could say that again."

* * *

The others have been doing well to find some cards.

Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Xander and Matt found their cards at a cliff facing the ocean.

Alexis, Jenny and Clover found cards at the meadow.

Michael, Shiori and Bastion found cards at the foot of the island's mountain.

* * *

 _At the end of the time limit_

Everyone showed up at a dueling arena that wasn't too far at the left side of the stairs leading to the castle. Pegasus was waiting for them, standing in front of a big monitor.

"Time's up everyone! Now then, anyone with a number card better hope for the best. For now it's time to see who gets to duel me!" Pegasus turned to a man dressed in black standing right next to the monitor. "Now, turn it on."

"Yes sir." The man pressed a button on the side, turning the monitor on.

All the students watched as the monitor was showing a black hat laying upside down on a small table. And then, a figure jumped out from the left. It looked like a cartoonish, pink bunny wearing red overalls and yellow boots. The bunny stuck its right paw inside the hat, and dug through it, trying to grab something.

"And the lucky number is…" Pegasus said.

Andrew and the others watched, with their numbers in hand.

Andrew: 48

Jaden: 53

Syrus: 24

Chumley: 44

Matt: 35

Xander: 87

Shiori: 61

Bastion: 102

Michael: 143

Alexis: 74

Jenny: 19

Clover: 110

Among the students, there was an Obelisk blue boy who was holding a card of his own, with number 77. This person was non other than James Napier, the prankster. "I have no doubt that the lucky number is mine." He said while smirking.

And then, the bunny pulled out what appeared to be a card from the hat. It then held the card up and showed the number it had. It was number...

"61!" Pegasus said. "Now, who has number 61?"

"That's me!" Shiori called out loudly as he held up his card high.

"Nice one, man." Michael praised.

"Good for you." Andrew added.

Pegasus nodded with a smile. "Excellent. Now let's take our positions at the dueling arena."

James found himself on his knees in despair. "No fair." He whimpered.

An Obelisk blue girl approached him and placed a hand on his back for comfort. She was his acquaintance (and possibly girlfriend) Alicia. "There there." She said, trying to make him feel better.

All the students gathered around the dueling arena as Pegasus and Shiori took their positions on the podiums. Pegasus on the red one, and Shiori on the blue one.

"Come on, Shiori! You can do it!" Jaden called out.

"Show him what you got!" Matt added.

One of the black clad men stepped forward on the sidelines. "This Duel Monsters match puts your host Maxmillion Pegasus versus Shiori Koizumi from Duel Academy. Let the duel begin!"

THe life point counters were set and both duelists drew their opening hands.

"Let's duel!"

 **Shiori: 4000**

 **Pegasus: 4000**

"Visitors first." Pegasus offered.

"Thank you." Shiori drew. "And I'll start with the spell card Ancient Rules. With this, I can summon a level 5 or higher normal monster directly from my hand. I summon Tri-Horned Dragon!" The big, blue dragon with three horns rose up on the field with a mighty roar. ( **ATK: 2850** DEF: 2350 LV: 8)

"Whoa!" Matt gasped. "A high level monster on his first turn."

"Shiori probably wants to end this quickly." Bastion assumed. "After all, Pegasus knows the game he created all too well, making him a dueling expert. So defeating him won't be easy."

"That's true. But Pegasus isn't truly undefeated. Yugi Moto was able to defeat him. I wouldn't count Shiori out just yet." Andrew stated.

Shiori took a card from his hand and placed it on the table. "I end my turn with a facedown."

"Well well. Starting big, are we?" Pegasus asked as he drew. He then smiled. "But I think I'll start with something full of joy and laughs. And of course… cartoons."

Shiori's eyes widened. "Uh oh."

"I give up 1000 life points…."

 **Pegasus: 4000-3000**

"... so I can activate Toon World." Pegasus placed his card on the table, making a certain pop-up book appear.

"Looks like Shiori's in trouble now." Xander noted.

The book was about to open, but...

"I activate my trap!" Shiori interrupted, surprising everyone.

Including Pegasus. "Huh?"

"Cash Back!" His facedown card flipped up. "With this counter trap, I can negate a spell, trap or monster effect that activates by paying life points, and send it back to your deck."

The creator of Duel Monsters gasped as the pop-up book disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Hey, nice move." Clover commented with a smile.

"Got that right." Michael replied. "Shiori was actually prepared for that spell card."

"He _did_ mention to me earlier that he was changing his deck a bit, in case he would become Pegasus' opponent." Andrew mentioned.

"My, that was unexpected." Pegasus said, acting surprised. He then shrugged. "Oh well, I can deal with that. Even without Toon Word, many of my Toons are able to be summoned. Like my good friend, Toon Masked Sorcerer. Defense mode." From a puff of smoke, the goofy looking, masked spellcaster appeared and snickered. (ATK: 900 **DEF: 1400** LV: 4) "I end my turn with a facedown." Pegasus placed a card on the table.

Shiori drew a card. "I summon Dragon Zombie in attack mode." The purple, zombie-like dragon appeared. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 0 LV: 3) "Attack his Toon Masked Sorcerer, with Deadly Zombie Breath!" The dragon inhaled and exhaled green smoke that enveloped the cartoonish spellcaster and destroyed him. "And now my Tri-Horned Dragon attacks!" The big dragon reared back its head, as if it was about to spit fire.

"I'm afraid that won't work." Pegasus smiled as he flipped up his facedown. "I activate the trap card, Dragon Capture Jar." With that, a big, brownish jar with a dragon shaped face appeared on Shiori's field. It then unleashed some red smoke that enveloped Tri-Horned Dragon. And then, the dragon coughed and lowered itself. "I'm afraid dragon type monsters are unable to attack from now on."

Shiori grimaced.

"Not lishus." Chumley said.

"That trap card is quite nasty." Clover pointed out. "As long as it remains on the field, all dragon type monsters are forced into defense mode."

"The good news is Dragon Zombie is a zombie type, so Shiori has at least one monster to attack with." Matt said.

Shiori placed a card on the table. "I play a facedown and end my turn."

"Very well. I draw." Pegasus announced and drew a card.

"I activate my trap…" Shiori's facedown card flipped up. "Tyrant's Throes. First I must sacrifice two normal monsters, like Tri-Horned Dragon and Dragon Zombie." The two named monsters disappeared. "And then, as long as my trap card is in play, none of us can normal or special summon effect monsters."

Everyon gasped.

"No way." Jaden said with a smile.

"Brilliant." Bastion praised. "With that trap card on the field, it will be harder to Pegasus to summon his Toon monsters."

"But since that card affects Shiori as well, he can't rely to his ritual monsters for now." Matt pointed out.

"But hopefully, he might not need to." Xander added.

Pegasus raised his right eyebrow. "Hmm. That is quite problematic. But nothing I can't handle." He placed a card on the table. "First I activate the spell card Cost Down. By discarding one card from my hand, I can reduce the levels of the monsters in my hand by two stars. Which means I don't have to sacrifice anything in order to summon Illusionist Faceless Mage in attack mode." The monster that appeared looked like some kind of doll in robes. It had three heads. The one on its right was female with long brown hair with a red ribbon. The one on his left was male with pointy hair. The one in the middle was bald, but the most noticing feature of it was its face. Only it didn't have a face. Just a grinning mouth with purple lips. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 2200 LV: 5-3)

"So Pegasus did have normal monsters as well." Alexis said.

"It's not really powerful." Jenny noted. "But since Shiori is defenseless, it's at least something to attack with."

"Now then, Shiori boy. Let's see how you handle my Mage's Illusion Strike." The mage moved its hands in circle, causing purple mist surround the arena. Shiori looked around, wondering what was about to happen. He got his answer as a big, glowing eye symbol appeared right in front of him. It was then he had a sudden headache as the surroundings warped.

 **Shiori: 4000-2800**

When Shiori recovered, everything seemed to be back to normal. "Man, that wasn't fun."

"That's too bad." Pegasus replied. He then placed another card on the table. "I end my turn by enhancing my Mage's power with the spell card Eye of Illusion." The same glowing eye symbol from earlier appeared on the mage's chest for a moment before disappearing. (LV: 3-5)

"My move." Shiori drew. "I activate Pot of Greed. Now I can draw two cards." He drew his extra cards. "Then I activate the spell card Dark Factory of Mass Production. This lets me take two normal monsters from my graveyard and add them to my hand, like Tri-Horned Dragon and Dragon Zombie." He held up the two named cards. "I then summon Dragon Zombie again." The zombie-like dragon appeared again. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 0 LV: 3) "Now attack his Faceless Mage!" The dragon exhaled green smoke, just like before.

But before the attack could hit, the Faceless Mage moved its hands in circle again. By doing that, it made purple mist that surrounded Pegasus' side of the field. The dragon's attack entered the mist. Shiori waited for the mist to clear, which it did after a moment. But when it did, he was surprised to see the three-headed monster unharmed. "My attack had no effect."

"Indeed. Thanks to Eye of Illusion, my Mage was able to stop your attack. Fortunately for you, that can only be done once."

"Is that all?" Syrus wondered.

"Then Shiori just has to attack during his next turn, and that Faceless Mage is gonzo." Chumley said.

Michael narrowed his eyes. "I don't know. Something tells me it won't be easy."

"I end my turn."

"Okay then." Pegasus drew a card, looked at it and shrugged. "I switch my Mage to defense mode and end my turn." The three-headed figure crossed its arms.

Shiori drew a card. "I activate the spell card Trade-In. First I have to discard a level 8 monster, like Tri-Horned Dragon." He placed the named card on the graveyard. "After that, I get to draw two cards." After drawing his extra cards, he looked at them and smirked. "This will do. First I Armored Zombie in attack mode." The zombie warrior in armor rose up next to Dragon Zombie. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 0 LV: 3) "Then I equip him with Amulet of Ambition." The golden amulet with one eye appeared around the zombie's neck. "When a monster equipped with this spell card battles a monster with higher level, its attack points increase by 500 points multiplied by the difference between their levels."

"That's perfect." Matt said. "Pegasus' Mage is a level 5 monster, while Armored is level 3. That means once it attacks, it will gain 1000 points."

"And then, Pegasus will be wide open." Chumley added.

Andrew seemed to be concerned. "Maybe, but I have a bad feeling about this."

"Armored Zombie, attack…"

Pegasus chuckled as his mage moved its hands in circle again, making purple mist appear, once again.

"Now what?" Shiori groaned. His zombie warrior charged forward through the mist. And then...

"Deadly Zombie Breath!"

"Huh?" The ritual duelist was shocked by Pegasus' words. But not as shocked as he became when green smoke suddenly came out from nowhere and surrounded Armored Zombie. And then, it exploded into pixels. "Wait a second! Your Mage doesn't have the 'Deadly Zombie Breath' attack!" It was then the mist started to clear. And then, everyone could see that the Faceless Mage wasn't alone. Standing by its side was a certain zombie-like dragon. "Dragon Zombie!?"

"What!? But how did it end up there?" Jaden asked.

"Take a look at the dragon." Bastion said, pointing at Dragon Zombie. Everyone turned and noticed something different about it. On its forehead, it had a glowing mark. The familiar eye symbol.

"What's with that glowing eye?" Syrus wondered.

As if hearing his question, Pegasus spoke up. "This is the second effect of my Eye of Illusion. Since your Dragon Zombie attacked during your last turn, and my Mage stopped it, Eye of Illusion allowed me to take control of it during this battle phase. And in addition to that, your monster was forced to attack it."

Shiori gasped.

 **Shiori: 2800-2700**

The zombie-like dragon returned to Shiori's field. The ritual duelist sighed. "I end my turn."

"Well then." Pegasus drew a card and looked at it. He then placed it on the table. "Perhaps this will make you feel better? Card of Sanctity. This spell card lets both us to draw until we hold six cards in our hands." Both duelists drew their extra cards. After looking over his new hand, Pegasus smiled and held up one of his cards. "And now I play the spell card, Double Cyclone. This lets me destroy one spell or trap card on my field, and at the same time, destroy one card on your field. So I'll destroy Dragon Capture Jar and Tyrant's Throes." Two cyclones erupted from the middle of the area, each one of them blowing away one of the named trap cards.

"Without Shiori's trap card, both of them can summon effect monsters again." Jenny said.

"Including Pegasus' Toon monsters." Clover added.

"And now I play the spell card, Toon Table of Contents."

Shiori gasped again.

"With this, I can take any Toon card I want from my deck. And I know just the one…" Pegasus searched through his deck until he found the card he wanted. After he took it. He shuffled his deck and placed it on the table and took five cards from the top of the deck and placed them on the side.

Shiori noticed this and knew what was coming. "Here it comes."

"Welcome Shiori... to Toon Kingdom!"

(Play Toon World theme)

Everyone watched as a familiar book appeared from a puff of smoke and and opened, revealing a pop-up castle, complete with torches and tress without leaves.

"Aw man. Shiori's in trouble now." Syrus stated.

"No joke. He may have got rid of Toon World, but Pegasus was prepared with that field spell." Alexis added.

"But since the Toon monsters can't attack on the turn they're summoned, Shiori can make a comeback." Jaden said optimistically.

"That's easier said than done." Michael replied. "Unlike Toon World, Toon Kingdom can keep those monsters from being destroyed. All Pegasus has to do is give up cards from the top of his deck."

"Now, since the real fun is about to start, let's move on, shall we?" At that, the Faceless Mage disappeared. "I sacrifice Illusionist Faceless Mage in order to summon Toon Dark Magician Girl." The pages of the book turned to a pop-up stone wall with a magic circle and stone pillars. And then, the book released a puff of smoke, which quickly cleared when the new monsters appeared. This Toon monster seemed like a younger caricature of the original Dark Magician Girl. She spun around and gave her opponent a wink. ( **ATK: 2000** DEF: 1700 LV: 6)

"She's kinda cute, don't you think?" Syrus commented with a smile. "Ya know, for a toon."

"Now then, normally Toon monsters can't attack the same turn they're summoned. But, unfortunately for you, Toon Dark Magician Girl is an exception for that rule."

Shiori gasped again.

"Which means she can strike your life points right now. Dark burning Attack!" The toon magician spun her staff while giggling before shooting a sphere of pink magic at Shiori.

 **Shiori: 2700-0700**

"Ow!" Xander winced. "That's gotta hurt."

"This isn't good." Matt said. "It just takes one more attack, and Shiori is out."

"But since he's got a new hand, thanks to Card of Sanctity, he should be able to turn this duel around." Andrew said confidently.

"I end my turn with a facedown." Pegasus concluded and placed a card on the table.

"Here goes." Shiori drew a card and looked over his hand. He then smirked. "I must thank you for making me draw extra cards. Because now I can use another counter strategy against you."

The creator of Duel Monsters blinked. "Oh? Then do tell. What is this counter strategy of yours?"

"It starts with this…" Shiori placed a spell card on the table. "I play Symbols of Duty. This lets me send a normal monster from my field to the graveyard, like Dragon Zombie." The monster in question disappeared. "After that, I can equip this card to a monster that I summon from the graveyard. Either mine or yours. So I'll resurrect Toon Masked Sorcerer!" The bizarre looking spellcaster appeared. (ATK: 900 **DEF: 1400** LV: 4)

"Did you just steal one of my lovely toons?" Pegasus asked in mocked anger.

"Yup, and now I'm gonna equip it with another spell card. Mage Power." The spell card appeared behind the sorcerer. "This card gives my monster 500 attack and defense points for every spell can trap card on my field. including Mage Power itself, that's two." (ATK: 900-1900 **DEF: 1400-2400** ) "Now you won't be able to harm me without getting through him first."

"Well well. You studied well. Not bad, young man." Pegasus complimented.

"What's he talking about?" Syrus wondered.

"It's simple, Syrus." Bastion replied. "The Toon monsters are known for being able to attack the opponent directly when Toon World, or Toon Kingdom, is on the field. However, if the opponent has a Toon monster on their field, they can't attack directly without destroying it."

"So Shiori's using that Toon Masked Sorcerer as a shield?" Chumley asked.

"It sure sounds like it." Michael replied with a smile.

"Way to go, Shiori!" Andrew cheered.

"Now I play the spell card Ritual Cage." Another spell card appeared on the field. (ATK: 1900-2400 **DEF: 2400-2900** ) "This spell card keeps me from taking battle damage from attacks involving my ritual monsters, and they can't be targeted or destroyed by monster effects. And now I play the spell card Ritual of Grace." A pillar of golden light erupted from the ground next to Toon Masked Sorcerer. Shiori then held up a monster card.

"By sacrificing monsters with a total level of 7 or higher, like my level 8, Rabidragon, I can summon Divine Grace - Northwemko." When light faded, a woman was standing next to the sorcerer. He hair was pure as platinum and her skin was as pale as alabaster. She was wearing a dark purple dress, threaded with threads of gleaming red and gold and edged in red to match her long gloves. She was also wearing a yellow/purple headdress. She was wielding a staff of gold, topped with an odd ornament. ( **ATK: 2700** DEF: 1200 LV: 7)

"Amazing." Jenny said, admiring the woman's appearance.

"That's an impressive monster." Alexis commented.

"Now I activate Northwemko's ability." The woman held up her staff in the air as it glowed brightly. It was then Pegasus noticed something happening to the pop-up book. It was glowing as brightly as Northwemko's staff. When the glowing died down, the pop-up castle got an orb of light floating above it.

"My…" Pegasus said.

"When Northwemko is ritual summoned, I can mark one faceup card for every monster I sacrificed for the ritual. And as long as those cards are on the field, she can't be destroyed by card effects."

"That was pretty smart." Michael noted. "If Pegasus wants to destroy Shiori's monster with a card effect, he needs to get rid of Toon Kingdom, and Ritual Cage for that matter."

"Which makes his Divine Grace a powerful monster." Bastion added.

"Now Northwemko, attack his Toon Dark Magician Girl! Graceful Burst!" The woman raised her staff and shot sphere of golden magic at the cartoonish magician.

"Uh uh uh." Pegasus waved his index finger. "Whenever one of my Toons is about to be destroyed, I can prevent its destruction by removing one card from my deck." He took the top card from his deck and placed it on the side. The Toon Dark Magician giggled as she stretched out of the way, making the magic sphere miss her.

Shiori just smirked. "That's good, but are your life points safe?"

Pegasus gasped before the magic sphere collided with him and exploded.

 **Pegasus: 3000-2300**

"I place a card facedown and end my turn." Shiori concluded as he placed the last card from his hand on table. (ATK: 2400-2900 **DEF: 2900-3400** )

"Not too shabby, Shiori boy." Pegasus complimented. "But before I'll make my turn, I activate my trap card…" His facedown card flipped up. "Toon Mask. With this, I can summon a Toon monster from my hand or deck with up to the same level as one of your monsters, like Divine Grace."

"Divine Grace is a level 7 monster, so Pegasus is about to summon something really strong." Xander assumed.

"But which Toon monster will it be?" Clover wondered.

Everyone watched as Toon Kingdom flipped its pages until it reached... a pop-up stone wall with a magic circle and pillars?

"Huh?" Shiori blinked upon seeing this again.

"Haven't we seen that page when Toon Dark Magician Girl was summoned?" Syrus asked.

"Yeah, we did." Chumley confirmed.

"So… he's gonna summon another Toon Dark Magician Girl?" Jaden asked as he scratched his head.

"Confused?" Pegasus asked. "You probably think it's gonna be another Toon Dark Magician Girl, but you're wrong. The monster I'm summoning is... wait for it." He paused a moment to make it dramatic.

…

...

...

"Toon Dark Magician!"

"Wait what!?" Shiori exclaimed.

The book released a puff of smoke, from which a new monster appeared. Just like Toon Dark Magician Girl, this monster was like a younger caricature of the original Dark Magician. He glanced at his apprentice and smiled while waving at her, and she jumped in joy. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 2100 LV: 7)

Shiori stared at the new monster dumbfounded. And so did the rest of the gang.

"A Toon version of Yugi's ace monster?" Andrew asked.

"That's new." Jenny added.

"Quite amazing plot twist, right?" Pegasus asked as he drew a card and began his turn. "Now then, just like how Yugi boy's original magician can pull off some tricks, this adorable version has a few tricks of his own." He then took a card from his hand and held it up. It was a Toon Mermaid. "Once per turn, I can discard a Toon card from my hand and activate one of his two abilities." He placed the card on the table. "And I choose this one: I can summon a Toon monster from my deck, ignoring the summoning conditions."

"That's not good." Matt said.

"Shiori better brace himself."

Pegasus went through his deck until he found the card he desired. "Ah, perfect."

Shiori became wary as his opponent held up his new card.

"I summon Toon Barrel Dragon." The pop-up book released a puff of smoke that quickly cleared and revealed a certain cartoonish, mechanical dragon with three cannons that laughed maniacally. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 2200 LV: 7)

"Uh oh." Andrew said.

"Not that thing again." Clover grimaced.

"This cute thing has a special ability. Once per turn, I can toss a coin three times." Pegasus explained as he held up a coin. "And if I get heads at least two times, I can destroy a card on the field. And as much as it pains me, I'm targeting Toon Masked Sorcerer." The dragon sneered as the sorcerer was panicking.

"I don't think so." Shiori said with a smirk. "I activate my trap…" His facedown card flipped up. "Dark Illusion. This lets me negate the activation of a spell, trap or monster that targets a dark monster on the field and destroy it."

"What!?" Pegasus watched as the mechanical dragon screamed like a girl before it exploded into pixels. (ATK: 2900-2400 **DEF: 3400-2900** )

"I'll be damned." Clover said.

"Well that looks like _my_ kind of counter trap." Michael commented with a smirk.

"Looks like Shiori calculated that Pegasus was about to try to destroy Toon Masked Sorcerer with a card effect." Bastion noted.

"I guess watching James dueling a couple of times made him figure out what Pegasus might do." Michael assumed.

"My, I wasn't expecting you to outsmart me three times during this duel." Pegasus commented and rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I'm a little rusty. But I won't quit just yet." He then smirked. "And my Barrel Dragon won't quit either." With that, the mechanical dragon returned from a puff of smoke.

"Huh?" Shiori blinked before he face-palmed. "That's right. The field spell."

"Correct. I can use its effect to save my Toon from destruction." Pegasus removed the top card from his deck. "And with that, I'll end my turn with a facedown." A card appeared behind Toon Dark Magician.

"My move." Shiori drew. "I play Card of Demise. This lets me draw until I hold 5 cards in my hand." He drew his extra cards. "But after 5 turns, my hand goes the graveyard. But it's worth the risk, because now I play Shinato's Ark. This lets me summon another ritual monster. So goodbye, Reshef the Dark being…" The familiar giant statute appeared for a moment before it disappeared. "And hello Shinato, King of a Higher Plane." The blue-skinned angel with golden wings appeared next to Northwemko. ( **ATK: 3300** DEF: 3000 LV: 8)

"Now Shiori's serious." Jaden stated.

"Got that right." Xander responded. "Two ritual monsters on the field at the same time, and that one is even stronger."

"Now Shinato, attack Toon Dark Magician Girl with Divine Ring!" The angel created an energy ring and threw it at the female magician.

"Sorry, but I've got a trap card." Pegasus' facedown card flipped up. "Now with Spirit Barrier in play, my monsters keeps me from taking battle damage."

"Great." Shiori muttered.

"And as you know, my Toon Kingdom keeps my Toon monsters from being destroyed." Pegasus removed another top card from his deck as the female magician giggled and avoided the circle by stretching out of the way.

"I end my turn with a facedown." Shiori placed a card on the table. (ATK: 2400-2900 **DEF: 2900-3400** )

"In that case…" Pegasus drew card. "I'll give my Toon Barrel Dragon a new chance." He held up a coin while his mechanical dragon laughed mischievously.

"Uh oh. If he gets heads two times, then he can destroy Toon Masked Sorcerer." Syrus said worriedly.

"And then he can attack Shiori's life points directly." Chumley added.

Pegasus flipped the coin. When it landed on his hand, it became… "Heads." Pegasus smirked as he flipped the coin again. When it landed on his hand again however, he frowned. "Tails. One more time." Everyone watched as he flipped the coin the third time. Shiori was almost sweating due to the suspense. The coin landed on Pegasus' hand the result was...

...

"Tails?" Pegasus was surprised while Shiori and his friends sighed in relief.

"Man, that was close." Xander said.

"A little too close for my taste." Matt added.

"My, this just isn't my day." Pegasus sighed while Toon Barrel Dragon was jumping in anger. "In that case, I'll try my luck by playing Doppelganger." When the image of the named spell card appeared, a black, cartoonish cat emerged from it. "With this I can take a card from your graveyard and add it to my hand. And I choose Card of Demise." The grinning cat grabbed the named card from Shiori's graveyard and moved over to Pegasus as it held the card up and giggled. "Now I can refresh my hand." The cat drew the extra cards for him and placed them in his hand. "And it looks like I'm lucky today." Pegasus held up one of his new cards. "With Mystical Space Typhoon, I can destroy one spell or trap card on the field. Like Symbols of Duty."

Shiori gasped as the named card was destroyed. And at the same time, Toon Masked Sorcerer disappeared. "This is bad."

"Yes, sadly I have to get rid of my dear Masked Sorcerer." Pegasus said with a tone that could probably be described as mock sorrow. He then smirked. "But it had to be done. Because now when you don't have any Toon monsters, my beloved toons can attack you again."

"And Shiori's only got 700 life points." Syrus pointed out.

"Which means one attack can wipe him out." Chumley added.

From far away, the Obelisk blue boy known as Victor watched this with a smirk. "Heh. Like that dork stood a chance against the Creator of Duel Monsters."

"Now let's wrap this up, shall we. Toon Dark Magician, attack him with Dark Magic Attack!" The cartoonish Dark Magician-lookalike raised his staff as its tip glowed before he swung it and sent a ball of purple magic.

"You just triggered my trap!" Shiori declared.

"Can you really stop my toon with a trap card?" Pegasus asked skeptically.

"I certainly can, with this…" Shiori's facedown card flipped up. "Malevolent Catastrophe!"

Pegasus gasped.

"Since you just let your monster launch an attack, I can destroy all spells and traps on the field."

"No way! Then that means…" Jaden said.

"The Toon monsters are history." Andrew filled.

From the middle of the arena, a violent whirlwind emerged and blew away the Dark Magic Attack. And then, as it grew bigger and bigger, every spell and trap card on the field exploded into pixels. Including Toon Kingdom.

"No! My Toon Kingdom!"

"That's right, with that card gone, all your Toon monsters are destroyed."

The two magicians and mechanical dragon screamed in fright and tried to run away, but the whirlwind was too strong for them as they were quickly trapped within it. The spun around until they were sent away toward the sky.

"Finally, the Toon monsters are gone." Clover said in relief.

"Then let's hope if Shiori can end this before Pegasus can bring them back." Andrew added.

"My, what an unexpected turn of events. I figured you would be good, but to defeat my Toons just like that? Duel Academy have taught you well."

"Thank you." Shiori said proudly.

"But if you think you can destroy my lovely Toon monsters and get away with it, then you're mistaken…" Pegasus held up a certain spell card. "I activate Black Illusion Ritual."

Shiori cringed. "It just have to be that ritual spell card."

Pegasus smirked and held up the monster card know as Dark Eyes Illusionist. "Then I'll take it you realize that I'm going to use it and sacrifice Dark Eyes Illusionist in order to summon the monster that's quite the looker: Relinquished." From some black smoke, the golden eyed creature with its vein covered body appeared. ( **ATK: 0** DEF: 0 LV: 1) "And you probably know what my little friend here can do. Absorb one of your monsters, and then absorb that monster's attack and defense points. And that will be a problem for you since you got rid of Ritual Cage."

Shiori grimaced as Relinquished's circle opened up and sucked in Shinato. And then, the blue-skinned angel appeared on one of its armor pieces. ( **ATK: 0-3300** DEF: 0-3000)

"Too bad I already went through the battle phase this turn, so I'll end my turn with a facedown." Pegasus concluded as he placed a card on the table.

"Man, I need a miracle." Shiori muttered and drew a card. When he looked at it, his widened for a moment before he smiled. "Yes!"

"Hm?" Pegasus gave him a curious look.

"First I'll play the spell card, Pre-Preparation of Rites. With this, I can add a ritual spell card from my deck to my hand, and also add the ritual monster that I can with said spell from my deck or graveyard. And I know exactly what to choose." Shiori went through his deck and took out two cards. With that done, he placed one of them on the table. "I play Black Illusion Ritual."

"What!?" Pegasus exclaimed.

The gang gasped.

"Is he…?" Jaden asked.

"He is." Andrew replied with a smirk.

"I sacrifice Djinn Disserere of Rituals in order to summon my own Relinquished!" The familiar chubby, purple-skinned with his shield appeared for a moment before he disappeared as a duplicate of Pegasus' ritual monster took his place. ( **ATK: 0** DEF: 0 LV: 1) "Now then, let's how you like it. Relinquished, go!" The monster's circle opened and sucked in its doppelgänger. But before it got inside, Shinato separated from it and shattered into pixels. After that, Shiori's Relinquished got an extra pair of arms and golden eye that emerged from one of its armor pieces.

The students watching started to mutter to each other, perplexed by this move.

"Not bad, but since your Relinquished absorbed mine, it won't get anything."

"Maybe not, but you're wide open now. Of course, there is your facedown card, so I'll move on with this…" Shiori held up a certain spell card.

"Ritual of Grace?"

"That's right. This spell card has a special effect. By taking it from my graveyard and remove it from play, I can make one of my ritual monsters un-targetable by effects this. And I choose Divine Grace - Northwemko." At that, the beautiful woman was surrounded by a white aura.

"That was a clever move." Bastion praised. "That will make it less risky for Shiori when he attacks with Northwemko."

"But that's not all." Alexis added. "He sacrificed Djinn Disserere of Rituals to summon Relinquished. Because of that, it's immune to trap cards."

"Which means in case that facedown card is a trap that could be used to take an opposing monster and use it as defense, it will be worthless against Relinquished." Jenny said.

"Then this is all or nothing." Andrew added.

"Now Northwemko, attack his life points directly!" The woman raised her staff and fired another sphere of golden magic.

"Oh yeah! Shiori wins!" Jaden cheered.

"Not exactly." Pegasus replied, making Shiori and the others confused. "I reveal my facedown spell card…" His facedown card flipped up. "Contagion of Madness!" The attack was blocked by the spell card. "Here's how it works; while I take damage from your direct attack, you take damage equal to half of your attacking monster's attack points."

"No way!" Shiori exclaimed as the card that absorbed Northwemko's attack glowed brightly before exploding powerfully.

 **Shiori: 0700-0000**

 **Pegasus: 2300-0000**

Silence reigned for a moment, and then the crowd burst into applause.

"Awesome dueling!"

"Way to go, Shiori!"

"Nice one!"

Shiori sighed as he got off his podium. The gang approached him. "Didn't see that coming." He said almost disappointed.

"Come on, man. That duel was great! Sure, it ended with a draw, but that was sweet!" Jaden said.

"Not to mention you sent those Toon monsters running." Andrew added. "And on top of that, you took Pegasus to the limit. That's a great accomplishment itself."

"Yes, indeed." The man in question said as he walked up to them smiling. "Despite the outcome, you showed some tremendous skills, just like other students that I observed during the day. This duel was fantastic. I believe your dueling will be very bright in the future. The same thing goes for your friends of course."

Shiori smiled back. "Thanks."

The creator of Duel Monsters turned to the crowd. "Now then everyone, how about we give this young man another applause?"

At that, everyone cheered and clapped their hands. This was a great duel indeed.

Well, except for a certain card thief. "Hmph, how boring." Victor muttered and walked away.

* * *

Later that night, the students lined up as they were about to get onboard on the ships. Now that they all reached the end of the day, it was now time to return to Duel Academy.

"Man, what an awesome day. So many duels and much more!" Jaden said excited.

"And to think we discovered so many things here." Michael stated.

"Too bad we have to leave now. I was hoping we got to camp here or something." Clover said.

"I agree." Jenny replied.

"At least we won't forget this…" Andrew said as a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder. He turned around to see none other than Chancellor Sheppard.

"Excuse me, Andrew. But can you come with me for a moment?"

"Huh?" Andrew blinked.

The rest of the gang were surprised.

"Wait! What for?" Xander asked.

"Did you do something wrong, Andrew?" Matt asked.

"No, I didn't do anything." Andrew replied before he turned to Sheppard with uncertainty. "Did I?"

The Chancellor gave him a reassuring look. "No, not at all. I just want to speak with you about something."

Andrew looked at him for a moment before he turned to his friends. "You guys go ahead. I'll catch up."

"You sure?" Shiori asked concerned.

"Positive."

They then nodded as Andrew followed Sheppard to a distance. They then stopped. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Sheppard turned to him. "Actually, I'm not the one who wishes to speak with you."

Andrew blinked. "Then who?"

"That would be me." Someone spoke up behind Sheppard. The Chancellor stepped aside to reveal The creator of Duel Monsters himself.

"Pegasus?"

"Sorry to drag you away from your friends, but it was urgent for me to speak with you."

"And why's that?" Andrew asked curiously.

To answer his question, Pegasus reached into his three-piece suit and grabbed a small, brown envelope which he handed over to him.

"What's this?"

Pegasus smiled. "Just a little gift... from Peter boy himself."

Andrew's eyes widened. "You mean my cousin?"

"Yes. You see, some time before letting you all visiting my island, I hosted Industrial Illusions' annual tournament. Your cousin participated, and won of course…"

* * *

 **Flashback**

In San Francisco, California, a party was held where Peter Mihaylov was attending the event. He was currently talking to Pegasus.

"An impressive victory you pulled there, Peter boy." Pegasus praised. "As expected from the 'Master of Dragon Rulers'."

"Thank you." Peter replied with a smile. "Many of them truly showed their full potential. Which is something I like about dueling."

"Couldn't agree more. So, what do you plan to do now?"

"I'm planning to visit my family. I can imagine how much they missed me. Especially my little sister. She's planning to attend Duel Academy next year."

Pegasus smiled interested. "Is that so? Well, good for her. Speaking of Duel Academy, I've got something special planned for them, since they're about to have a field trip, visiting me."

Peter widened his eyes. "Really? If that's the case, then maybe you can help me with something."

"Oh? And what's that?" Pegasus wondered.

Peter reached into his pocket and held up a brown envelope. "This. I have a cousin who attends the Duel Academy. I was planning to send this to my aunt and uncle so they could give him for me. But since he, along with the rest of the academy is going to visit you…"

Pegasus held up a hand to stop him from talking. "Say no more. I understand completely." He then took the envelope. "I'll make sure to deliver it to him. Just tell me his name."

"Andrew Wilson."

Pegasus' eye widened in recognition. "Ah, the young man who won my exclusive Masked HERO cards. A really promising duelist. Rest assured, Peter boy, that your cousin gets this."

"Thank you."

 **Flashback end**

* * *

"…and that's that." Pegasus finished.

"I see." Andrew said, staring at the envelope before he smiled. "Thank you."

Pegasus smiled. "Oh, you don't have to thank me. If anything, you should thank your cousin. Now then, you better get onboard on a ship. It would be bad if you were left behind."

"Right."

* * *

And so, the ships took off from Duelist Kingdom. Many people were standing on the back of the ships, watching the island disappearing from view slowly. Including Andrew and the others.

Jenny noticed the envelope in his hand. "Hey Andrew, what do you have there?"

"Oh, this?" He held it up. "Just a little gift from someone."

"Really? What is it?" Shiori asked.

"I don't know. I've decided to not open it before we're back at Duel Academy."

"Come on, man. Open it, I want to see!" Jaden said excited.

"No, not before we've returned home!" Andrew repeated lost annoyed.

"Please, open…"

BONK

Jaden couldn't finish his sentence as he groaned rubbed a red bump he just got, courtesy of an annoyed Clover. "Seriously."

Everyone laughed at this, except for Jaden who whimpered.

* * *

 **Phew! And that's it. The end of the fun school field trip. But good times must end eventually. And that might lead to a 'grave' situation to our heroes, if you know what I mean. Until next time.**


	40. Chapter 40

**Grave Risk - Part 1**

It was late in the night at Duel Academy, and everyone was sleeping peacefully.

...

Or... not everyone. At the Slifer Red dorm, while Jaden and Chumely were snoring away, Syrus crept down from his bed bunk, his eye weary from fatigue. "That's the last time I mix chili sauce with ice cream." He muttered to himself. He walked out of the dorm room quitely and went down the stairs and around the building and to a random door thinking it was the bathroom. When the opened the door, he saw a blue glow from a computer. "Oh, whoops. This isn't the bathroom." He was about to close the door, but he then noticed Professor Banner sitting at a computer, his back to the open door.

 **"You are not here to ask why, you are here to obey."** An unknown voice said from the other end of the communication.

"But Jaden is one of our best students, he could be buried alive!" Banner protested.

"Buried?" Syrus repeated.

 **"If the tomb shall be the end of Jaden Yuki, then so be it. But his true potential** ** _must_** **be tested. The same thing applies to the other student who shares a similar spirit."**

Syrus closed the door quietly and backed away, scared of what he just heard. _'Tested? In a tomb? Where he could be buried alive? Something tells me this test isn't mid-terms.'_ He then became even more scared when he started to wonder about the other student. _'And who could the other one be. I hope it's not me or Chumley...'_

* * *

The next day, it was a normal day, and right now, Banner was giving his students another lecture about alchemy. There weren't many students present in his class, most likely because it was boring or considered this unrelated to dueling. Some of those who were present were bored. Jaden and his roommates were among those bored students. Jaden had painted black dots over his eyelids, so when he was sleeping, his closed eyes would make it look like he was still awake. Clover and Xander, who were sitting beside the trio, were aware of this stupid trick, but didn't mention it.

"So, as you can see, we can learn a great deal about dueling from alchemy." Banner spoke to his class, standing by his desk with different vials with multi-colored liquid in his hands. "For just as you might combine two monsters to create another, you can combine two compounds to create something equally impressive." He poured the liquid from a test tube into the vial he held, then stirred it by shaking it. And then…

BOOM!

It exploded, creating a cloud of smoke in the process. Many of the students jumped at that, but for some reason, that didn't wake Jaden up, to Clover and Xander's confusion.

"…and equally devastating." Banner added before his body, being smudged by the smoke, collapsed.

The bell then rung, at which Jaden woke up from his nap, stretching his arms while yawning. "Morning guys. Learn anything good today?"

Clover and Xander gave him a look that said 'seriously' upon the fact that he woke up to the sound of the school bell, but not a loud explosion.

Andrew sweatdropped at exact same reason. _'That guy has some weird resistance to awakening.'_

Still startled by the explosion, Syrus said, "We sure did. To duck."

Banner recovered from the little incident and got up on his feet. "Oh, I almost forgot." He announced as he held up a pile of papers. "I'm, uhh.. planning, uhh... a little field trip."

"A field trip?" Clover repeated. "Another one?"

"Great! To where!? Is it Duelist Kingdom again!? Oh wait, wait! I know! Kaiba Land!?" Jaden asked, excited.

"Even better! We're taking a ten mile hike, all the way to the excavated ruins, where we'll be taking geologic core samples!" Banner revealed.

That perked Andrew's interest "Ruins? We get to explore more of the Academy island?"

"Saturday at 7:00 AM. Don't be late.

* * *

 _The next morning_

Banner and his students found themselves outside the Academy building, ready for the field trip. However, the number of students, who had backpacks, were not what Banner expected. "Only 9?"

Those students were Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Andrew, Shiori, Jenny, Clover, Xander and Alexis.

"Where is everyone else?" Banner wondered.

"They're probably sleeping, Professor." Syrus suggested. "You know? In their nice warm beds, with their nice comfy pillows."

"Just like I would be doing if Banner didn't threaten us with detention if we didn't show up." Chumley muttered. "It's seven am in the morning. I need my beauty sleep."

"Ya know, it wouldn't hurt to get out more, Chumley." Xander said.

"Exactly, maybe even join Andrew for workout?" Clover added, patting the friend in question on his back.

"No thanks. I'd probably collapse after that."

"Exercise isn't so bad after doing it a number of times." Andrew replied. "Besides, this could be an adventure. We're about to travel to an unknown part of the island." He almost smiled with excitement.

"Someone's happy." Jenny noted with an amused look.

"I'll tell you what the secret to get up early is." Jaden spoke. "Staying up all night long."

"Is that why you always fall asleep in class?" Shiori asked and raised an eyebrow.

"To tell you the truth, I could hardly sleep either." Alexis said. "These ruins we're going to used to host the shadow games."

"That's sweet!" Jaden commented. "Maybe you'll find some clues then. Ya know, about your brother."

"Yeah, that's kind of what I'm hoping for."

"Brother?" Clover asked.

Andrew frowned before he leaned in and whispered to her. "Yeah. You see, in the past, there were a number of students who mysteriously disappeared. And one of those students was Alexis' older brother."

"Oh." Clover frowned as well and gave Alexis a sympathetic look.

Banner spoke up as everyone's PDA's showed them the picture of the ruins. "Now, we must be careful as we approach the ruins. Inside, is an ancient tomb."

Syrus widened his eyes. _'A tomb!?'_ He then remembered last night and turned to Jaden. "Jaden, I need to talk to you."

"But I…" He couldn't finish his sentence as the smaller Slifer dragged him away from the group.

"I think Banner wants to bury you alive." Syrus whispered. "He was talking about that tomb, and you in it. He also mentioned something about another student. It could be one of the others, or worse, me!"

"What? Just cuz I fell asleep in class?" Jaden asked. He then teased his friend. "Does the school board know about this?"

"Jaden, I heard him say it last night!" Syrus replied.

"Sy, this is starting to sound like another chili sauce nightmare."

"Okay everyone, let's go!" Banner said, as everyone followed him.

Syrus was the last person to follow since he stood there until he said, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

* * *

The 9 students and Banner traveled for hours. They've been walking, climbing and crawling. But everyone dealt with all the obstacles and trials without complaining… well, except for a certain koala duelist...

"Are we almost there?"

"My feet really hurt."

"Can we take a bathroom break or something?"

"I hate climbing!"

"I hate crawling!"

"I hate hiking! Are we there yet! I'm hungry!"

Eventually, Clover couldn't take it anymore and snapped at him. "Can you just stop your complaining already!?"

Chumley jumped at her outburst. Before any other studnet could say anything, Banner beat them to it.

"Oh, look! We're finally here! Isn't it just amazing?" The students looked directly in front of them. It was a cleared area with structures of stone, one being an arch, though it was missing a part. Just like other structures, most of it was covered in green moss.

The students looked at them with awe.

"They look all ruined." Jaden commented.

"Alexis smiled slightly. "That's because they're ruins."

"Well, this is a nice place. I wonder what they did here, besides hosting the shadow games." Andrew said, looking around at the site fascinated.

"I almost forgot how much he liked history." Clover commented amused.

"But you gotta admit, this place looks interesting." Xander replied, glancing around the place.

"Can't argue with that." Shiori added.

"It's beautiful!" Banner said, hardly holding his excitement back. "You can still see the fated remains of the oculus. Oh! And the phastigium!No doubt inspired by a meniment of Saka'Ra!"

"He sure seems excited to see some rocks." Syrus commented.

"Yeah well I'm excited to sit down." Chumely said.

"Yeah and while we're at it, how about we chow down?" Jaden suggested.

"I don't see why not." Banner replied. "And then, we'll hit a few cenotaphs, some carotids, a couple sarcophaguses, or is it sarcophagi? No matter, time to eat." He dropped his bag and reached into it. "I just love pizza."

"Huh?" Jaden and the others turned around stared at the Professor. "You get pizza while we're stuck with... whatever it is I'm holding!?" He whined, holding up some rice balls.

Banner held his backpack close. "I'm your teacher. I need a big meal to, uhh... teach you all!"

Jaden pouted and sat down along with the others.

"Don't worry guys. We got it covered." Andrew declared as he and Shiori reached into their own backpacks and pulled out lunch boxes. Five from Andrew's backpack, and four from Shiori's backpack.

"No way." Xander said.

"Me and Andrew borrowed the Ra dorm's kitchen and prepared some seafood to everyone. That includes some piece of lobster."

"Aw, thanks you two." Jenny said.

Andrew blushed a bit. "No problem."

Clover noticed his red face, and couldn't stop her left eye twitching of annoyance.

As the group settled down for their own lunch, Banner reached for his pizza. But then, he felt something strange when he rummaged through his backpack. "That's funny, I don't remember a fur topping on my pizza." But what he pulled out wasn't his pizza... but rather his cat Pharaoh, crumbs on his face. He meowed and gave a small belch.

And that of course, caused Banner to scream in shock and horror. "You were supposed to stay at home! Not hitch a ride and eat my lunch!" He fell to his knees and hung his head in dismay.

"It appears that karma struck him real hard." Xander commented and took a bite of his seafood meal.

Banner turned to his students, clasped his hands together and anime tears running down his cheeks. "Maybe... you could share your lunch with me?" He pleaded.

Everyone looked at him, mimicking his squinted eyes look.

"Sorry. We're you're students. We need these to learn."

"Yeah, like learn you weren't gonna share." Chumley added.

"But of course I was going to share!"

"Share what? Pepperoni breath all day?" Alexis questioned.

"Look, I have mints! Would anyone like a mint? See, I'm sharing!"

While Banner tried to get some food from his students, Pharaoh pawed at the ground and dug some kind of artifact. It was a large, round disk with symbols carved into it. In the middle of the disk, was a jewel. As the cat dug some more, the gem began to glow a bright light. Pillars of green light suddenly started erupting around them. The cat shrieked and returned to his master.

"What's going on?" Jaden wondered.

Everyone rose to their feet. For a moment, they were all blinded by the green light.

"That's one powerful mint." Chumley commented.

They all then looked to the sky and saw the sun split up in three.

"Is anyone else... seeing in triplicate?" Banner asked nervously.

After the sun split in three, a veil of rainbow colored lights appeared, moving around them.

"This is the most lishus field trip ever." Chumley said in awe.

"It's beautiful." Jenny praised.

"Oh wow! That's neato!" Syrus said in awe.

Winged Kuriboh and Phantom Magician appeared next to their respective duelists.

 _"Coo!"_

"What was that? We should run?" Jaden asked. "But it looks so cool."

 _"No! Winged Kuriboh is right!"_ Phantom Magician retorted. _"Something's wrong with that light!"_

"Seriously?" Andrew asked worried.

And then, thunder boomed, and lightning flashed.

"Quick, children, head for cover!" Banner shouted. Everyone started to run away, trying to find shelter. The storm got closer to them. "We'll find safety over in that sepelcur!"

"The what?"

"The thing with the hole in it!" At that, they ducked into an alcove.

Andrew was about to as well, but looked over his shoulder and noticed that Jaden stopped running. "Jaden, what are you doing!? Get in here!"

"Come on!" Syrus motioned for him.

"You must hurry!" Banner added.

Jaden looked at Andrew, then the others. "You guys stay in there! I'll lead this storm away!" At that, he ran in the direction opposite of his friends.

"Jaden, don't do it!" Andrew called out and ran after him.

"Andrew, wait!" Clover cried out.

"Where they're going!?" Shiori asked.

"They're going crazy!" Xander filled in.

In desperation, Andrew reached out for his friend. "Jaden, we have to go back! We don't know what…!" But he stopped at mid sentence as the light from above brightened so much. And then, everything went dark.

* * *

"Ngh… huh?" Eventually, Andrew came to his senses as his eye fluttered several times, his vision being blurry for a moment before he regained his sight. He took notice that he was laying on the ground. He got up in a sitting position and looked around. "What just happened?" He then saw something unexpected. A tall pyramid standing in perfect condition. "What!? What is this place!?" Before he could ask himself something else, he noticed Jaden laying unconscious on the ground. "Jaden!" He started to walk over to his friend, until he stopped and found another surprise.

"Coo!" Winged Kuriboh was hovering close to the unconscious Slifer and poked his cheek, trying to wake him up.

"Winged Kuriboh? No duel disk is on, but he doesn't look like he's in his spirit form. How is this possible."

"I don't know, but it's clear that we're not at Duel Academy anymore." Someone spoke up from behind.

Andrew blinked upon hearing the familiar voice. He slowly turned around to see... Phantom Magician! "What the…!?" He exclaimed. "You too, Phantom Magician!? But I haven't activated my duel disk! What on earth is going on!?"

"Whoa! Think I took the wrong turn." Andrew turned around again and saw that Jaden was awake, staring at the pyramid Andrew noticed, with Winged Kuriboh floating right next to him.

"Coo."

"Yeah, we're not in Kansas anymore, Kuriboh."

"Jaden!"

The Slifer and his spirit partner turned around and saw Andrew and his spirit. "Oh! Andrew, you okay?"

"I'm fine. What about you?"

"Oh, I'm just… huh?" Jaden had now a confused look on his face as he looked behind his Ra yellow friend.

"What? What is it?" And once again, Andrew turned around... and was now as confused as Jaden was.

Because right in front of them, they saw the same arch from Duel Academy. Only, it was whole instead of broken up. It also had twin stone serpents on the top, and was no longer in its battered condition.

"Wait a second! I remember those ruins being in _ruins_ a few minutes ago. Why is it in fine condition?"

"Maybe this is a crazy dream?" Jaden wondered.

"So you're saying we're having the same dream?" Andrew asked. "I doubt it."

"It's too bad we can't have someone to pinch us to wake us up, huh Kuriboh?" The Slifer joked. But to his surprise, the furry spirit approached his face and pinched his cheek with his claws. "OW! You sharpen those claws? How about a manicure once in a while? By the way Kuriboh, since when could I…" He reached out and held his duel spirit in his hands. "... feel you? Whoa! This is a first!"

"But wait! If Jaden can touch Kuriboh…" Andrew mused as he turned to his own spirit. He then lowered himself and extended his left hand. Since Phantom Magician was holding his staff in his right hand, he grabbed Andrew's hand with his left, surprising his partner. "Whoa! Incredible!"

"Ahem!" They then heard someone clearing their throat. They then turned in the direction it the sound came from and saw a tan-skinned woman with black hair. She was wearing a strange golden headband and a pair of emerald earrings. She was clad in a blue, short dress, and open black robes that dropped to her ankles. She was also holding two backpacks. "This is sacred ground! You must leave here immediately! You are both in very grave danger!"

"Wow! What dorm are those clothes from? I wanna join." Jaden said, completely oblivious to the situation.

"Jaden, none of the school dorms have those clothes!" Andrew said annoyed. "This woman is obviously not a student." He then turned to the woman in question. "Okay, what did you mean by grave…"

But he was interrupted as the woman grabbed them both and held them up against the stairs, where they couldn't be seen.

"Hey!" Jaden exclaimed.

"Quiet!" She hissed. "Or do you wish to share the others' fate?"

"What others?" Andrew asked. But the only response he got was a 'Sshh.'

It was then a group of people marched up the staircase. they appeared to be dark-skinned men wearing purple garments with black robes and had their heads covered but their faces open. And on top that, those men were wielding spears. The trio, plus the duel spirits, waited until the spear wielding men gone.

"They dress weirder than Dr. Crowler." Jaden commented.

"What's going here?" Andrew asked the woman.

"I speak of the strangers whoa share your dress." The woman answered. "They have been taken by the Gravekeeper's Chief and will be punished for entering his sacred grounds."

"What!?"

"Punished!? No way! Not on my watch they won't lady!" Jaden shouted. "Take us to them, right now!"

The woman looked at the boys for a moment before she spoke up. "So be it." She handed the backpacks to them. "You've been warned." At that, they followed her. "Tell me strangers, by which means did you arrive here?"

"Um, the name's Jaden, and I don't even know where here is. But I bet it's a great place where you could get a great tan."

"My name is Andrew, and to answer your question, we don't really know how we got there. All we know that we were blinded by a bright light before we got separated from our friends."

"I see."

* * *

Some time passed until the woman led boys to an empty room with three window spaces on the wall across the doorway. "You will wait here."

"No we won't!" Jaden protested. "We want to see our friends?"

" _I_ will find them." The woman said. "Believe me, if both of you are found walking about, you'll be of no use to them. I'll be back."

"Okay, fine." Andrew sighed as he and Jaden caved in after the woman left.

* * *

It's been a while since the woman left Andrew and Jaden alone in this room. They've been waiting for her to return with their friends. But so far, none of them showed up. At very least, it's been no sign of the spear wielding men either.

"What's taking so long?" Jaden asked frustrated. "Is she ever gonna come back?"

"Yeah, that's what I was about to ask." Andrew responded.

It was then Jaden suddenly gasped. "Wait a sec! What if she's working with this Gravekeeper?"

Andrew widened his eyes. "That's a scary thought. Because if that's the case, then she's most likely setting us up."

"SOMEONE! HELP US!"

The boys jumped to their feet upon hearing that feminine scream.

"That was Alexis!" Jaden shouted and turned to the windows. He and Andrew jumped up and looked out the windows. Down below their perspective, they saw four coffins laying on the ground in the square space in the middle of the structure around them. And to their horror, they saw Syrus, Chumley, Alexis and Banner (along with his cat) inside those coffins, wrapped in bandages. "Oh no!"

"We have to get them out of there!" Andrew shouted. But then he noticed something. "Wait a minute, I see only four of our friends. Where are the others… OW!"

"OW!" Jaden yelped, along with his friend as they suddenly felt something sharp prodding on their rears.

"Get down!" A deep, gravely voice commanded.

"Move towards the sharp object? You've gotta be kidding me!" Jaden responded.

"That's crazy!" Andrew added.

"Now!" The voice hissed.

"Alright, alright! You ever hear of a handshake?" Jaden asked as he and Andrew slid down the all. And as soon as they turned around, they were greeted by a bunch of spearheads pointed towards them. "I guess not." The boys got a good look on the people in front of them. The dark-skinned men holding the spears looked exactly like those they avoided earlier. Behind those spearmen were two bald men, with their chests bared except for the open black robes they wore. Each of them held a weapon similar to a trident, except that the middle fork twice as long as the other two.

And behind those two, stood one more man. He had dark skin, just like the rest of them and a moustache running into his small, dark beard. He wore a light purple shirt, green pants, white robes with black at the ends, and had his head covered with a black covering on top of his head.

No one, not even the beard man, noticed the same woman from earlier peeking from around the corner before disappearing.

"Aw, where's my manners?" Jaden asked shakily. "Introductions first. I'm Jaden Yuki, and this is my friend, Andrew. And your name would be…?"

"I am the Gravekeeper's Chief." The bearded man responded. "And you have traversed upon the sacred tomb that I protect."

"Hey, sounds good to me, pal!" The Slifer replied nervously. "How about we just go and grab our friends downstairs? We'll say our goodbyes to you, then zip back to the dimension we came from."

"That is not possible." The Gravekeeper Chief said.

"Why not?" Andrew asked.

"Because, fools, you have tread upon my domain. And you will be punished , along with your friends."

"We didn't come here on purpose!" The Ra retorted. "We were just visiting some old ruins in our own world before getting blinded by a light and ended up here!"

"How and why you came here is none of my concerns. What matters is you trespassed here, and must be punished."

"Come on! Can't we pay a fine or something?" Jaden asked.

"You cannot."

"Let us go! We don't care about your damn tomb, you have no right to point your spears at us!" Andrew pushed the spears away, but cringed when they came back, pointed at his neck.

The Gravekeeper Chief chuckled. "You show some spirit, strangers. I shall pardon your trespasses, given you can survive my challenge." He offered. "What is your answer?"

"Well, what's the challenge?" Jaden asked. To answer his question, the bearded man smirked and held up what appeared to be a deck of Duel Monsters cards. "A duel? Now you're speaking my language!" He said excited as the spearmen moved away their spears. "You're on! But only if you pardon _all_ of our friends along with us."

Andrew widened his eyes in realization. "Wait! That reminds me. We saw 4 of our friends down there. Where are the others?"

The Chief turned to him. "Ah, yes. The other four are suffering a similar predicament at the moment. Although they have been moved to a different place. My Oracle is overlooking them. If you want me to pardon those people as well, then you must defeat him."

Andrew stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Fine then, I'll accept the challenge. We'll see to it that everyone gets out of here safe and sound."

"That's assuming if you win."

"For our friends, there's no 'if' about it, pal." Jaden said as he and Andrew took their duel disks out of their respective backpacks. "We'll win."

The Gravekeeper then sneered. "But if you don't, you will be punished. You will be buried alive."

Andrew gasped at that.

Jaden cried out with a funny, frightened face. "BURIED ALIVE!? But then who'll save our friends!?"

"Fear not. They will be buried, along with you."

The boys were still frightened at the stakes of this challenge. But, they didn't have a choice.

"Good luck, Jaden."

"You too, Andrew. You better come out alive."

At that, some of the spearmen guided Jaden and followed the chief in one direction, while the rest of them took Andrew in another direction.

* * *

The place where Jaden and the Gravekeeper were about duel was the top of the structure surrounding the pit where the coffins with his friends were. The duelists were standing on little extensions that stuck from opposite walls. Jaden activated his duel disk. As for the Gravekeeper, a strange duel disk appeared on his arm. The looked a conch shell, with the tray for the field being straight as can be.

"Good luck, Jaden!" Banner said. "We're all rooting for you! Very, very much so."

"Jaden!" Syrus called out.

"Come on Jaden, save us!" Chumley pleaded.

"Don't worry, you'll all be fine. As long as I beat this guy." Jaden said before he focused on his opponent. "All right, get your game on!"

 **Jaden: 4000**

 **Chief: 4000**

"Get my game on?" The Chief repeated as he and Jaden drew their opening hands. "What do you speak of?"

"Sheesh. It's a figure of speech. You know, like slang?"

"It's like slang? How dare you speak to me with a rotten tongue of a filthy serpent!" The Chief drew his sixth card. "I play a card facedown, in defense mode, thus ending my turn." He declared as the mentioned card appeared in front of him.

"And starting mine!" Jaden drew his card and looked at it. It was at that moment Winged Kuriboh showed and hooted. "Hey, Winged Kuriboh. It's good to see you, bud. Now watch this. I summon Elemental HERO Bubbleman!" The blue armored, white caped water hero stood tall in front of him. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And he's got some pop. Cuz if I summon him when there's nothing else out, then I'm allowed to draw two more cards from my deck." Jaden drew his extra cards. And they turned out to be Avian and Burstinatrix. "Sweetness!"

"Coo."

 _'I hear ya. With these two waiting in the wings, it's just a matter of time before the wingman shows up.'_

"Alright, next I'll throw down a facedown and call it a turn." Jaden concluded as he inserted a card into his duel disk.

The chief drew his next card and held it up. "Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier!" The monster that appeared was a man, very identical to the spearmen Jaden and Andrew encountered earlier. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1000 LV: 4) "I hope your Bubbleman's draw provided you with two very good cards. Because already he's outmatched in battle. And he is soon to be outnumbered as well."

"Uh oh."

"I now summon, in attack mode, Gravekeeper's Guard!" The facedown card flipped up and released one of the bald trident wielding men from earlier. ( **ATK: 1000** DEF: 1900 LV: 4) "And his effect, lets me return a monster that's out to its owner's hand. And the monster I choose, is Bubbleman!" The guard unleashed pulsing red light that struck Jaden's hero monster.

"Ooh, red." Chumley said amazed.

"That's not a good thing, Chum!" Syrus retorted.

After the light died down, Jaden noticed that his monster card was back in his hand now. "He's back?"

"And now that you are unguarded, Jaden, I'll attack you directly! Gravekeeper's Guard, Blazing Blade Strike!" The named monster flew to Jaden's side and swung his weapon at him in a downward arc, before leaping back to his side of the field.

 **Jaden: 4000-3000**

Jaden held his shoulder in pain. "I felt that... This is real!" He grunted.

Down below, the lids to the coffins began to slowly close.

"Hello! No joke it's real!" Banner said worriedly.

"And now, Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier, Wage your attack! Lunging Spear Assault!" The spearman dashed forward and stabbed Jaden at the gut, who cringed in pain when struck.

 **Jaden: 3000-1500**

"Okay... I think that I'm getting it now." He panted, watching the monster return to his master. "This isn't just about life points, it's about my life."

"Yes, and theirs." The lids of the coffins closed up more.

"I'm claustrophobic, for real!" Syrus panicked.

"Yeah so am I, if it'll get me out of here!" Chumley added.

"It's my turn!" Jaden drew. "And I play the spell card, Polymerization! Avian and Burstinatrix, combine to create, the Flame Wingman!" The two named heroes disappeared into the fusion vortex and reappeared in the form of Jaden's headliner. ( **ATK: 2100** DEF: 1200 LV: 6) Jaden grinned. "So did Bubbleman give me two very good cards? Well, see for yourself. Because, from bot of them... came him!" He waved his arm to the Spear Soldier. "And this next attack!" The Flame Wingman fired a stream of flames from his dragon arm and destroyed the Spear Soldier.

 **Chief: 4000-3400**

"Don't even think you're out of fire yet. Cuz for every attack point Spear Soldier had, you now take damage for!" Now it was the Chief's turn to be struck by the flames from the hero monster's arm.

 **Chief: 3400-1900**

"Next I'm gonna summon on out Wroughtweiler in defense mode." The metal dog appeared alongside the green and red hero. (ATK: 800 **DEF: 1200** LV: 3) "And that'll do it."

"Nice job, Jaden!" Chumley cheered.

"Way to play, Jay!" Syrus added.

"If we're gonna make it through this thing, Sy, it's the only way he can play." Alexis noted. "Because if he makes even a couple more mistakes, we're through."

"Alright, make your move!" Jaden urged the Chief. "Cuz the quicker I can win this thing, the quicker I can get my friends back!"

"Or the quicker they'll be sent to their doom." The Chief drew a card. "I change my Gravekeeper's Guard to defense mode." The guard knelt down to one knee. "And then I'll place a facedown monster in defense mode as well." A facedown card appeared next to the guard.

"Guess you don't know rule #1 in Duel Monsters." Jaden commented and drew a card. "A good defense is a sweet offense. And who better to teach you the rules than Flame Wingman? Now here goes! Attack! Infernal Rage!" Once again, the hero monster fired a stream of flames, blasting the guard to pieces and burned away the Chief's life points.

 **Chief: 1900-0900**

"Oh yeah!" Jaden cheered before ending his turn.

The Chief drew his next card. "I activate Pot of Greed. Now I can draw two cards from my deck." He drew his extra cards and looked at them. They appeared to be good ones. "I shall summon Gravekeeper's Assailant in attack mode." A woman wearing a short dress and black open robe appeared. She was holding a serpentine dagger in one hand, and was wearing a hood and mask that hid her face, except for the eyes. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1500 LV: 4)

"And she will be joined by the mysticism of Gravekeeper's Curse." The facedown card flipped and released a man with braided hair, dressed in long dark robes with pieces of golden jewelry around his neck. He also held a thin blue and yellow staff with a circular tip. ( **ATK: 800** DEF: 800 LV: 3) "And now I activate the effect of Gravekeeper's Curse. An effect that will deliver to you 500 points of damage." The man with braided hair raised his staff and was surrounded by a yellow aura.

Jaden was then subjected to a shrill noise around. "That sound." He grabbed his head in pain.

 **Jaden: 1500-1000**

"That's worse than Chum's snoring." He muttered.

The coffins closed a little bit more.

"It's a good thing I have those mints." Banner commented.

"You gotta do better than that!"

"Very well then." The Chief held up a spell card. "Perhaps this card will suffice." The end of the Chief's tray popped open and he placed a it into it. "I cast, Necrovalley." The restored ruins disappeared and a canyon with tall stone walls appeared all around them. The duelists were now standing on stone pillars while their monsters floated on nothingness.

"Uhh, not good." Jaden muttered.

"As long as this card remains on the field, the power of the Necrovalley will add 500 attack and defense points to my Gravekeepers"

"What!?"

( **ATK: 1500-2000** DEF: 1500-2000) ( **ATK: 800-1300** DEF: 800-1300) "Gravekeeper's Assailant, attack Flame Wingman!"

That made Jaden confused. "What, you got sand in your eyes or something? Can't you see my Wingman still has more points? Unless you got some sorta…"

"Special ability?" The Chief filled in. "Yes, the Assailant does, actually. And it allows her to change the battle mode of your Wingman from attack, to defense." The Assailant's eyes glowed white and was surrounded by a purple aura. Flame Wingman was surrounded by the same aura, and then forced to kneel down.

"Oh man!" Jaden gave the Chief a smile. "Boy, you can really duel."

"The best has yet to come. Attack him!" The Assailant leapt in the air and appeared behind the Wingman. Her dagger extended into a sword before she stabbed hero in the back, making him exploded. "And now, my Gravekeeper's Curse will destroy that cur. Take him down!" The named man raised his staff and was surrounded by a yellow aura again. The same aura surrounded Wroughtweiler before it exploded in a shower of pixels.

"Whoopsie! Forgot his special effect? When he's destroyed, I get two cards back from the grave. An Elemental HERO and Polymerization."

"You have the wisdom of dirt." The Chief spat. "Necrovalley negates that effect!"

"Huh?"

"Any spell, trap or monster effect involving the graveyard is completely useless. Just as you have proven to be in your attempts to rescue your friends. Don't you see? Both you and your cards are futile here!"

"No, I refuse to believe it." Alexis said. "I know Jaden can find a way!"

"I hope." Chumley and Syrus said at the same.

"Oh no! Its no use, we're done for!" Banner moaned.

"That's not true, Professor Banner!" Syrus protested. "Jay's still winning! Just look at the life points!"

"Forget the life points! Look at the field!" Banner reminded his students. "Jaden has no monsters out! And the Gravekeeper's Chief has two!"

Jaden felt a bead of sweat roll down his cheek as the Chief laughed confidently. _'How did this happen? We set out looking for ruins, and suddenly, we're about to become some! This is no joke... If I don't get my game on, we're all gonna be long gone!'_ The screams and cries for help from his friends didn't make the situation better.

"Fret not." The Chief spoke. "You won't hear your friends' screams, when they're muffled by the buried earth!"

Down below, Jaden's friends watched on for their would-be savior.

"Jaden." Alexis said worriedly.

"I know you can win this, Jay!" Syrus said hopefully.

"And I know I want outta here!" Chumley added.

"Alright, now let's finish this!" Jaden drew a card.

"Coo." He looked at it and saw it was Winged Kuriboh.

"I should have known." He said to his friend with a smile. "You're always around to get my back. Or in this case, to guard my front. Winged Kuriboh, I'm summoning you in defense mode!" The furry duel spirit disappeared from his side before reappearing on his field. (ATK: 300 **DEF: 200** LV: 1) "Hang on, guys! I'll get you out of there!" He called out to his friends. "Your move!"

"How fitting." The Chief said amused. "The blind lead the blind and the weak protects the weak. Hiding behind that Kuriboh may be your idea of defense, but in my world, rodents like that are for pounding, not protection."

"He's no rodent! He's one of my very best friends!" Jaden smirked. _'And you're about to see why.'_

"Well, with friends like you, he needs no enemies." The Chief jabbed as he drew a card. "After all, you've just thrown him to the wolves!" The Assailant prepared herself to strike.

"Wrong! Because I got a spell card out!" Jaden's facedown card flipped up. "Transcendent Wings! Now by giving up two cards, Winged Kuriboh evolves way up to level 10!" After Jaden discarded two cards, the duel spirit glowed brightly and started to evolve.

"As foolhardy as it was predictable." The Chief insulted. "Brainless cur, I knew that you would play that!"

"Huh?"

"Which is why I have this ready! Feast your eyes! The power of Gravekeeper's Watcher!" He held up a monster card that released purple energy that then took the form of man holding a tome and was clad in black and white clothes, similar to the Chief. He floated over to Jaden's field and grabbed Kuriboh's wings, preventing them from growing further.

"What the…! Hey, what's happening!?"

"Fool! The same thing that's been happening this whole duel. You're losing! You see, by sending Watcher to the graveyard, I can negate your level up." Kuriboh's evolving was halted, and he returned to his original form. "And since I have, I'll wage an attack. Stealth Slice Strike!" The Assailant's blade grew longer again and she lunged at the furry duel spirit, destroying him with one swing.

"Sorry, Winged Kuriboh." Jaden apologized. "You took one for the team there. Thanks pal."

"Good thing Winged Kuriboh was there." Syrus said.

"You could say that again, Sy." Chumley added. "His effect makes it so Jaden doesn't take any damage during the turn that he's destroyed."

"That's true." Alexis agreed. "Now we just have to worry about next turn. Because now Jaden doesn't have any monsters out."

"Let's see…" The Chief said. "I've countered your move. I've destroyed your rodent. There's not much left to do but place a facedown." He inserted a card into his duel disk.

"Hey, enough!" Jaden snapped. "Winged Kuriboh's no rodent!"

The Chief laughed. "Would you prefer vermin? Or perhaps rat?"

"That's it! My draw!" Jaden drew a card. "First, I'm activating Pot of Greed. And with this spell, I can draw two more cards." He drew his extra cards. "And now, I'll play one. Dark Catapulter!" The humanoid machine with long neck appeared and kneeled down in front of him. (ATK: 1000 **DEF: 1500** LV: 4) "But I'm not done yet. I play Mirgae of Nightmare." The named spell card appeared. "And I'm gonna throw down three facedowns." He concluded as three facedown cards appeared. _'Okay, that should do it. And that should set me up perfectly to win this match.'_  
"I end my turn."

"Very well, my draw."

"And my chance to activate that Mirage card!" Jaden interrupted. "During your standby phase, it lets me keep drawing until I have four cards in my hand." He drew his extra cards and looked at them. "Sweet!"

"Sweet?" The Chief repeated. "Does that wretched slang mean you've draw some good cards? Well don't be so sure. You don't know what is good because you don't know what you're up against."

 _'I don't like the sound of this.'_ Jaden thought.

"I now sacrifice Gravekeeper's Curse... to summon myself!"

"Summon yourself!?" Jaden exclaimed.

Both the Chief and the staff wielding man were enveloped in light. When it died down, the Gravekeeper's Chief was now standing at the Curse's place. ( **ATK: 1900** DEF: 1200 LV: 5) "Due to Necrovalley's effect, I gain 500 attack points." ( **ATK: 1900-2400** DEF: 1200-1700) "And as long as I'm on the field, my graveyard's not affected by Necrovalley. Meaning I can use traps, spells and monster effects on any monsters laid rest there. And that's not all, I also get to summon one Gravekeeper from my graveyard."

"No way!"

"Rise, Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier!" The black clad spearman rose next to his chief. ( **ATK: 1500-2000** DEF: 1000-1500) "And now I'll play, the trap, known as Rite of Spirit. This lets me summon yet another Gravekeeper. And I choose Gravekeeper's Curse!" The named monster appeared again and was surrounded by a yellow aura again. ( **ATK: 800-1300** DEF: 800-1300) "When this card is summoned, 500 points of damage are dealt... to you!" Jaden cried out painfully as the same aura surrounded him.

 **Jaden: 1000-0500**

"Behold! The power of the Shadow Game!"

"Shadow game? Is that what this is?"

"Yes, and the game's almost over. For you, your life points and for your friends!" The coffins got even closer to being fully closed.

"Come on, Jaden." He tried to motivate himself. "You gotta get your game on. You gotta get it on for your friends. They're all counting on you. And I won't let them down. Especially when down means... six feet under in an old sarcophagus. No way, no how! They're coming home!"

"Yes, their eternal home! Assailant, attack!" The woman's dagger grew longer again and she leapt in the air at Dark Catapulter. "And with Necrovalley still out, it will be an attack that's 500 points stronger, more than enough to destroy that Catapulter, especially since my Assailant's special effect has just changed it's battle mode to offense!" The machine monster stood up. The woman almost seemed to hesitate as she came closer. "Face it, you've lost the duel!"

"I don't think so! Go, Emergency Provisions!" One of Jaden's facedown cards flipped up. "Now by sending two spell or trap cards on my field to the graveyard, I regain 2000 life points." The Mirage card, along with one of the two other facedown cards disappeared.

 **Jaden: 0500-2500**

"Curse you! But Assailant's attack still cuts through! Go, Stealth Slice Strike!" She cut across the machine monster with her blade, causing it explode.

 **Jaden: 2500-1500**

After Jaden recovered from the explosion, he saw the Assailant return to her master's field.

"You should have attacked faster!" The Chief said angrily to his servant. All she did was bowing her head and back away.

"Hey, it's not her fault you messed up! It's your own!" Jaden pointed out.

"Shut your mouth! Better yet, Why don't I just shut it for you?" The Chief asked as he conjured red energy from his right palm. "After all, do not forget that I still have an attack. And now, I will use it!" He let those a stream of the same red energy.

"Oh no, you don't! Go trap card, Draining Shield!" Jaden's last facedown card flipped and created a green dome that surrounded him and blocked the attack.

"You can't!"

"Oh, I can, and I did. Your attack's cancelled out. But there's more too. Now I gain life points equal to your monster's attack points. Pretty sweet, huh?"

 **Jaden: 1500-3900**

"Fool! So you blocked one attack. But still, I have another! Go, Spear Soldier!" The spearman charged and stabbed Jaden with his weapon, knocking himdown on his back in the process.

 **Jaden: 3900-1900**

"And now, Gravekeeper's Curse attacks, with Doomsday Purge!" Once again, the named man was surrounded by a yellow aura, which then spread to Jaden, causing him to cry out in pain.

 **Jaden: 1900-0600**

The coffins closed up more, leaving but a slight opening. Jaden got to his hands and knees, breathing hard.

"You're proving to be even less of a challenge than I thought." The Chief commented before he heard some sobbing sounds from his opponent. "Come now, fight back. This is barely fun anymore!"

He then realized that Jaden was actually laughing. "Really? Cus I'm having a blast!"

"Your friends' lives hang by but a thread, and you... you say that you are having a blast?" The Chief questioned Jaden's behavior.

"You got that right!" He replied as he got to his feet, dusting himself off. "Cuz no thread's about to be cut. I'm just one turn away from winning this duel."

"You are wrong!" The Chief argued. "And once you see what I'm about play, you will see why!" He activated a card. "Go, Royal Tribute! It's a spell, that I can activate so long as I have Necrovally on my field. Now we discard all monsters in our hand, to the graveyard."

All but one card disappeared from Jaden's hand. "Not good!"

"No, it's not. Well, it's not for you at least. For now, whatever monsters you were planning to win with…"

"Are gone." Jaden filled in as he looked at the remaining card in his hand. _'And the only card I have left is The Warrior Returning Alive, which I can't even use cuz of Necrovalley. It all comes down to this. With no monsters, if I'm gonna save my friends, I've gotta draw something big right now.'_ He prepared himself to draw. "Alright, here goes something!" He drew, and got a certain, powerful hero. _'Sweet! Elemental HERO Bladedge, one of my most powerful creatures.'_

The Chief laughed a little after noticing Jaden's smiling expression. "Drawn a good monster, have you? Shame you have nothing to sacrifice so you can summon it."

Jaden frowned. _'He's right. If I'm gonna bring out Bladedge, I'd need to trade two monsters for him, and I don't have any.'_ But then, after a moment, something struck his mind, making him smirk. "But then again, on second thought. Maybe... just maybe, I don't need any. Yeah, for sure! The Necrovalley field spell card is all I need!"

The Chief scoffed. "Please, Necrovalley simply negates any effects aimed at monsters in the graveyard."

"Exactly, but not the effects coming out of the graveyard."

"What?"

"Don't 'what' me. You know exactly what I mean. My monsters that are in the graveyard... if they have an effect I can use, I can use them."

"No!"

"Yes ~. And I'm sure I can find one that'll come in handy right now. After all, it's been a long duel, and I got a whole bunch of monsters down in the graveyard that I can choose from…"

* * *

 **Flashback**

You are wrong!" The Chief argued. "And once you see what I'm about to play, you will see why!" He played a card. "Go, Royal Tribute! It's a spell, that I can activate so long as I have Necrovalley on my field. Now we discard all monsters in our hand, to the graveyard."

 **Flashbak end**

* * *

"Yeah, you see, what helped you out so much back then, will hurt you now. Cuz one of the monsters I discarded... was a certain Elemental HERO known as Necorshade." A transparent version of a red-skinned voodoo figure with bone shoulder guards appeared behind Jaden. "And he allows me to summon an Elemental HERO without any sacrifices one time, and one time is all that I need."

The Chief gasped.

"Because the monster that I'm gonna bring out is the Elemental HERO Bladedge!" The golden armored hero rose up on Jaden's field. ( **ATK: 2600** DEF: 1800 LV: 7)

"No!" The Chief exclaimed, being as shocked as the other Gravekeepers.

"Now Bladedge, attack Gravekeeper's Curse with Slice and Dice attack!" The golden warrior dived at the weakest Gravekeeper, taking him out with a swing of his arm.

 **Chief: 0900-0000**

"That's game!" Jaden did his two finger salute as the holograms disappeared and the scenery turned back to normal.

"Chief!" The assailant called out as she ran to her groaning master.

"Hey, is he okay!?" Jaden called out as he ran over to see himself. But before he could reach them, his path was block by the other Gravekeepers.

"No!" They turned to their master who got up, with some support from the Assailant. "He lives! He was an impressive opponent."

Jaden grinned. "Hey thanks. Some of your moves were pretty tight too there. It was a sweet match. Let's duel again sometime."

"What?" The Chief asked surprised. "You mean to say you enjoyed the Shadow Game?"

"Totally! I mean, I could've done without the whole 'friends in the coffin thing', but it was fun. And you three guys…" He looked at the Gravekeepers who blocked his path. " Very scary. Very tough."

They were not sure what to say in response to those words.

"And you too." Jaden directed towards the Assailant. "You all fought great."

"Only one other person has ever passed this challenge. That is, until now. For having overcome your trials, I bequeath to you this mystic medallion." The Chief took a half of a medallion from around his neck It had unusual designs on it and a small ruby in the middle. "It is yours."

"Really? For me?" Jaden took it and noticed that it wasn't whole. "Some gift. There's only half."

"But of course. You see, the only other to have passed this challenge holds the other half. Hopefully when the time comes for you to battle in another shadow game, this medallion will serve you well."

"Sweetness! I'll be sure to remember that." Jaden placed it around his neck and let it drop over his shirt.

The Gravekeeper's Chief turned around and pointed his hand towards the four coffins below. They then opened up, letting the sun shine on those inside.

"We're free!" Syrus cheered.

"Whoa! Turn down the lights." Chumley said.

"I love light." Banner stated. "Light is my friend!"

"Wow, Jaden. You saved us." Alexis said in awe. All their bandages then dissolved, freeing them.

The Chief then turned back to Jaden. "Now, _you_ may have passed your challenge, but your friend has to pass his own if you want him and your other friends to leave here as well."

"Right. But knowing Andrew, he can do it." Jaden replied confidently. _'Good luck, buddy. You better win.'_

* * *

 **Well, that was Jaden's challenge. How Andrew's gonna survive his challenge… that's something for you guys to find out. Until next time.**


	41. Chapter 41

**Grave Risk - Part 2**

While Jaden was being led by Gravekeeper's Chief and some of the guards, Andrew was being led by the rest of them. After walking for a while, they reached a doorway. "Enter here." One of the guards said. Andrew entered, and found himself walking through a narrow corridor, with torches on the walls that lit up for every step he took.

 _'This is_ bad.' Andrew thought worriedly. _'At one moment, we were on a field trip to visit some ruins. And the next, we're a strange world, where we're going to be buried alive, unless we can survive the so called challenge.'_ He then took a deep breath before proceeding. _'But I know I can do this, and I know Jaden can survive his challenge.'_ Eventually, he reached the end of the corridor and found another doorway. He stepped through and entered a large chamber. But he couldn't see so well because of how darkened it was.

"Hello? Anyone here?" He called out.

"I've been waiting for you." Said a soft, yet firm voice.

Before Andrew could react to the voice, torches on the walls suddenly lit up, giving him a better look at the surroundings inside this chamber. The walls had hieroglyphs, showing spearmen fighting giant creatures, like dragons and demons. There were pillars around the chamber. One at each corner. But what caught Andrew's attention, was something at the wall across the doorway.

It was a dark-skinned man sitting on a throne. He had blonde hair and beard, and was wearing a dark-blue, aqua-blue and silver robes. He was also wielding a pale-green staff topped with the head of a pale-green cobra.

Andrew narrowed his eyes. "I suppose you're my opponent?"

"That is correct. I'm the Oracle of the Gravekeepers, and I've been tasked by the Chief to be your opponent for your challenge. And if you somehow manage to survive this challenge, then you and your friends are free to go."

"Where are they?" Andrew demanded.

The Oracle got up from his throne and tapped the bottom of his staff three times against the floor. And it was then chamber was suddenly shaking a little. And then, an indent in the middle of the floor opened up, revealing the coffins in which Andrew's friends were trapped.

"Everyone!"

"Andrew, is that you!?" Clover called out.

"Man, am I glad to see!" Shiori said.

"I was starting to panic here!" Xander whined.

"Where are the others?" Jenny asked, though still shaken due to their current situation.

"Jaden is rescuing them. Don't worry, I'll get you out of there!"

"That is, if you beat me." The Oracle said.

"You bet I will!" Andrew replied as he activated his duel disk. "Let's get this over with!"

"My thoughts exactly." With those words said, the Oracle's staff glowed brightly. And then, it suddenly wrapped itself around his left arm like a snake. After that, it was morphing for a moment before the glowing died down. Now, instead of a staff, a duel disk identical to the Chief's was attached to his arm. "Not that it matters, since your fate is set in stone."

"What do you mean?" Andrew asked confused.

"Why do you think I'm the Oracle of the Gravekeepers? I have the power to see into the future. I had a vision that showed me your arrival, and it told me that it was my destiny to face _you_."

Andrew looked skeptical. "What else did you see? My dueling cards?"

"No. However, my vision _did_ show me the outcome of this duel. You will fail to save your friends."

All the Academy students gasped at his claims. Andrew was about to lose this duel?

"So how about you save yourself the suffering and I'll let your life end swiftly?"

Andrew was shaken at this. Is this man really serious? Is it really….

"Don't listen to him!" Someone spoke up from behind. Andrew turned around to see his duel spirit.

"Phantom Magician?"

"That's one of Andrew's monsters!" Jenny said in shock.

"How did he appear like that?" Clover asked, feeling the same.

Shiori and Xander were speechless.

"You can't doubt yourself because of that man's talk about fate." The duel spirit continued. "Nothing is written in stone. I know you can win this duel. So pull yourself together and take him down."

After hearing those words, Andrew calmed down and gave him a smile. "You're right." He then turned back to the Oracle with a serious expression. "I can't back down. I can do this." He then drew his opening hand. "Let's do this!"

"You had your chance." The Oracle activated his duel disk and drew his opening hand.

 **Andrew: 4000**

 **Oracle: 4000**

The Oracle drew his sixth card. "I play a facedown monster in defense mode, and another card facedown to end my turn." Two facedown cards appeared in front of him.

"My turn." Andrew drew a card. He looked at it and smiled. "It's been a long time since I played this card. I summon Elemental HERO Solid Soldier in attack mode!" A purple warrior clad in silver armor with golden linings appeared, hie forearms weighed with heavy shields. ( **ATK: 1300** DEF: 1100 LV: 4)

"Hey, that's a new one." Shiori noted.

"It's been a long time since I last saw him use that." Clover said. "Trust me, that card is really useful."

"Quite doubtful." The Oracle dismissed.

"Perhaps his special ability will change your mind. Once he's normal summoned, I can summon another Elemental HERO from my hand, as long as it's level 4 or less. And I choose Heat!" The Solid Soldier was joined by the white and red armored fire hero. ( **ATK: 1600** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "And his special ability gives him 200 attack points for every Elemental HERO on my field, including himself." ( **ATK: 1600-2000** ) "I'm sure your facedown monster won't stand a chance against him. Now attack, with Burning Fist!" Heat ignited his right fist and dashed forward.

Just when he got close enough to strike, the facedown card flipped up and revealed a man clad in black robes and a turban. The man held up his left hand and grabbed the hero's fist with ease. "Now, what was that you said about my monster not standing a chance?" The Oracle asked. (ATK: 1200 **DEF: 2000** LV: 4) "My Gravekeeper's Spy has enough defensive power to block your attack." The black clad man pushed the fire hero, sending him back to Andrew's field.

The Ra clicked his tongue.

"And there's more. Since your attack forced my Spy to reveal himself, his special ability activates, letting me summon a Gravekeeper's monster with 1500 or less attack points. And I choose Gravekeeper's Descendant." The Spy was joined by a young man who was wearing black robes, just like him. He was also wearing a black headband. In his right hand, he wielded a golden staff with the head of a golden cobra. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1200 LV: 4)

"Great, now I have to deal with a whole group of gravekeepers." Andrew muttered as he inserted a card into his duel disk. "I play a facedown and end my turn."

"Very well then." The Oracle drew. "I summon Gravekeeper's Recruiter in attack mode." The Gravekeeper that appeared this time was a muscular, bald man, wearing a black vest with a midriff, robes similar to the Descendant, and a kilt-like skirt, all of them accented by Egyptian-style jewelry. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1500 LV: 3) "And now I activate the Descendant's special ability. By sacrificing one of my other Gravekeepers, I can destroy one card on your field. So I'll get rid of Gravekeeper's Recruiter to destroy your Heat." The descendant waved his staff at the recruiter who then disappeared. And then, he shot a purple energy beam from his staff and destroyed the fire hero.

"Not his monster!" Shiori groaned.

"This is bad." Jenny added.

"And now my Recruiter's special ability activates. After he's sent from my field to the graveyard, I can add a Gravekeeper's monster with 1500 defense points or less from my deck to my hand. And the one I choose this one." The Oracle went through his deck and found the card he wanted. He held it up as it suddenly released the spirit of another monster. It was a man dressed in a black coat, golden armor and tan pants. His face was covered by a jackal mask.

"What is that?" Andrew asked.

"This is Gravekeeper's Commandant. And he lets me a take a card known as Necrovalley from my deck and add it to my hand, after I discard him." The Oracle slid the card into his graveyard slot before he searched through his deck, taking the card he wanted. "And now, I _activate_ Necrovalley." He placed the card into the field spell tray. The chamber was then gone, and everyone found themselves at the bottom of a canyon with tall stone walls.

"This isn't good." Xander said worriedly.

"You think?" Clover asked sarcastically.

"Now with my Nercovalley on the field, all the Gravekeepers gain 500 attack and defense points." ( **ATK: 1500-2000** DEF: 1200-1700) (ATK: 1200-1700 **DEF: 2000-2500** ) "Now I'll switch my Spy to attack mode." The man with the turban stepped forward. "Now attack his soldier!" He then leapt in the air.

"I activate Mirror Force!" Andrew's facedown card flipped up. "Thanks to this, every monster you have on the field in attack mode is destroyed."

The Oracle chuckled. "You are such a fool to believe that you can stop me that easily."

"What!?"

"I activate the trap card, Imperial Tombs of Necrovalley!" The Oracle's facedown card flipped up. "Since I have both a Gravekeeper and Necrovalley on the field, this lets me negate a spell, trap or monster effect and destroy it."

Andrew gasped as his trap card shattered into pixels.

"Thus, my Spy's attack continues!" The turban wearing man landed in front of the silver armored hero and punched him, causing him to explode.

It was then Andrew suddenly felt intense pain in his chest.

 **Andrew: 4000-3600**

"This... this pain…" He wheezed. "This is just like... that time when I dueled Kang. Is this... a shadow game?"

"That is correct. And you're not the only affected by this…" The Oracle said as the coffins started to close up a bit, making Andrew's friends gasp.

"Ah! They're closing up!" Shiori panicked.

"And it gets worse! Gravekeeper's Descendant, attack him directly!" The named fired another purple energy beam from his staff. And Andrew cried out as he was burned by the attack.

 **Andrew: 3600-1600**

The coffins closed up even more. The captives were panicking more.

"I end my turn with a card facedown." The Oracle concluded and inserted a card into his deck.

"Then here goes…" Andrew almost stumbled because of the pain he suffered from the attack and drew a card. "I play Polymerization, and fuse Ice Edge and Shadow Mist to create Elemental HERO Escuridao!" The kid with icy outfit and black armored woman merged together and stood up in the form of the black armored hero with shadow wings. ( **ATK: 2500** DEF: 2000 LV: 8) "Prepare yourself, because this monster gains 100 attack points for every Elemental HERO in my graveyard. With four down there, she gains 400 points." ( **ATK: 2500-2900** )

The Oracle seemed to remain calm, regardless this turn of events.

"And there's more. Since Shadow Mist was sent to the graveyard, I can take a HERO monster from my deck and add it to my hand…"

"I won't let you do that!" The Oracle interrupted and discarded a card, before he revealed his facedown card. "I activate Divine Wrath! With this, I can stop your monster from activating its effect."

Andrew let out a 'tch' at that. "Fine, I'll just have Escuridao attack your Descendant. Go, Night Claw Slash!" The dark hero flew forward and slashed the descendant with her claws.

 **Oracle: 4000-3100**

"I end my turn." Andrew concluded.

"Nice one, Andrew!" Jenny cheered.

"You got him now!" Shiori added.

"We shall see." The Oracle drew. "I switch my Spy back to defense mode." The man with turban kneeled down. "Then I'll play another monster in defense mode and end my turn." A facedown card appeared next to the Spy.

"Not much to do, huh?" Andrew commented and drew a card. "I on the other hand am gonna play the spell card Legacy of a Hero. With at least 2 level 4 or higher Elemental Heroes in my graveyard, I get to draw three cards from my deck." He drew his extra cards. "Then I summon Elemental HERO Ocean!" The aquatic hero rose up next to the dark hero. ( **ATK: 1500** DEF: 1200 LV: 4) "Now attack his facedown monster, with Big Wave Crush!" The water hero stabbed the ground with his trident, causing a wave of water appear from the side of the field and wash away the facedown monster. But not before it flipped up and revealed a black cat with a golden necklace around its neck. (ATK: 500 **DEF: 300** LV: 2)

"You attacked the monster known as A Cat of Ill Omen. And due to its flip effect, I can add a trap card from my deck to my hand since I have Necrovalley on the field." The Oracle searched through his deck and took the trap card he wanted.

 _'Probably something dangerous.'_ Andrew thought. "Now Escuridao, destroy his Spy!" The dark hero struck the spy with her claws, making him shatter into pixels. "I end my turn with a facedown." A card appeared behind the hero monsters.

The Oracle drew. "First I place a card facedown." A card appeared at his feet. "Then I summon Gravekeeper's Nobleman in defense mode." A man with pale-blue hair dressed in black robes with a gold belt around his waist and a stone tablet in his arms appeared. (ATK: 1000-1500 **DEF: 1000-1500** LV: 3) "I end my turn."

Andrew drew a card. "I activate Ocean's ability. Once per turn, I can take a HERO monster from my field or graveyard and add it to my hand. So I'll take back Heat." Andrew reached to the graveyard slot, but was shocked when a dark purple aura appeared around it.

"It's not that simple." The Oracle said. "My Necrovalley negates any effect that would move cards in the graveyard to a different place."

"Seriously!?"

"So Andrew won't be able to bring back cards from the graveyard?" Clover asked disbelieved.

"Man, that sucks." Xander said.

"Okay, so I can't bring back my cards from the grave, but I can equip Ocean with the spell card, Fusion Sword Murasame Blade." The water hero trident was replaced by the katana with the chaotic aura. "Now my hero gains 800 attack points." ( **ATK: 1500-2300** ) "Now attack his Nobleman!" The water hero slashed down of the blue-haired man, shattering him into pixels.

"You activated the Nobleman's ability. After he's sent to the graveyard by your attacking monster, I can take a Gravekeeper's monster from my deck and place it on the field facedown." The Oracle showed a monster card with the picture of a white robed woman with a white and golden headdress, wielding a golden staff topped with a blue jewel. He placed the card on the duel disk, making a facedown card appear.

"Now Escuridao, attack his facedown monster!" The dark hero dashed toward the facedown monster.

"I activate my trap!" The Oracle's facedown trap card flipped. "Nercovalley Temple! While I have a Gravekeeper and Nercovalley on my field, this trap card drains 500 attack and defense points from your monsters."

Andrew gasped as the Oracle's facedown monster revealed herself. (ATK: 1500-2000 **DEF: 1500-2000** LV: 6) ( **ATK: 2900-2400** DEF: 2000-1500) ( **ATK: 2300-1800** DEF: 1200-700)

"And it gets worse. My Shaman has a special ability. For every Gravekeeper in my graveyard, she gains 200 defense points. And since 5 of them are in the graveyard so far…" ( **DEF: 2000-3000** ) Just as Escuridao was about to strike with her claws, the white robed woman raised her staff and created a blue barrier that blocked the attack. And then, Andrew gasped in pain due to the battle damage.

 **Andrew: 1600-1000**

The coffins closed up more, leaving but a slight opening. Andrew's friends started to become terrified.

"Don't worry, you won't be hearing their pleas any longer... as soon as they're buried, along with you."

"Not... if I can... help it." Andrew panted before he inserted a card into his duel disk. "I place a card facedown and end my turn."

"Face it, there's nothing you can do to avoid your fate." The Oracle scoffed as he drew a card.

"I still don't believe your talk about fate." Andrew retorted.

"You will in due time. I activate Pot of Greed, allowing me to draw two cards." He drew his extra cards and looked at them. He then smirked. "Now I summon my second Gravekeeper's Commandant." The man with the jackal mask appeared. ( **ATK: 1600-2100** DEF: 1500-2000LV: 4) "Then I activate the spell card Necrovalley Throne. This card has two effects, and I can choose one of them. And I'll use its second effect, which allows me to summon another Gravekeeper from my hand."

"I don't like where this is going." Andrew muttered.

"I now sacrifice the Commandant and Shaman in order to summon myself!"

"Yourself!?" Andrew exclaimed in shock.

The Oracle disappeared in a flash of light. And so did the Commandant and Shaman. After that, the Oracle reappeared in their place. ( **ATK: 2000** DEF: 1500 LV: 10) "Yes, and thanks to Necrovalley, I gain 500 points." ( **ATK: 2000-2500** DEF: 1500-2000) "And since I was summoned by sacrificing my Gravekeepers, I can activate one of my three special abilities for each of them. First, I'll use my first ability, which increases my attack strength by 100 points for every level of the monsters I sacrificed. The Shaman was a level 6 monster, and the Commandant was level 4. Therefore, their total level grants me 1000 points." ( **ATK: 2500-3500** ) "And now, time for you to suffer one of my other abilities. All monsters that you currently have on the field lose 2000 attack and defense points."

"Oh no!" The hero monsters groaned as they were surrounded by a purple aura. ( **ATK: 2400-400** DEF: 1500-0) ( **ATK: 1800-0** DEF: 700-0)

"Now that your monsters are weakened, it's time for me to finish you off!" He gathered dark magical energy in his palm, and released it, targeting Escuridao.

"I activate my trap card, Waboku!" Andrew's facedown card flipped up and created a barrier that blocked the attack. "Thanks to this, I take no battle damage this turn, and my monsters are safe."

The Oracle scoffed. "You're just delaying the inevitable. No matter how much you struggle, you can't change the future. I'll end my turn, and give you a chance to reconsider your options. Surrender now or suffer even further."

"I won't give up. I won't stand down until the last life points expires!"

"Your funeral."

Andrew drew. "I activate Pot of Greed. Now I can draw two cards." He drew his extra cards. "Next I summon Elemental HERO Stratos in defense mode." The turbine winged hero appeared and kneeled down. (ATK: 1800 **DEF: 300** LV: 4) "And now activate his special ability. For every other HERO monster I control, Stratos can destroy one spell or trap card on the field. So with Ocean and Escuridao, I can rid the field of your Necrovalley and Necrovalley Temple!" The wind hero's wings unleashed a cyclone that blew away The Oracle's trap card.

He grunted as the field spell card came out of his duel disk, making the valley change back to the large chamber.

"Without your field spell, you lose some points, while my monsters won't be affected by your temple." ( **ATK: 3500-3000** DEF: 2000-1500) ( **ATK: 400-900** ) ( **ATK: 0-300** )

But the Oracle smirked. "Perhaps. But that won't last long, because you just triggered the second effect of my Nercovalley Temple."

"What?" Andrew widened his eyes.

"Since you destroyed it and sent it to the graveyard, I can take a spell or trap card from my deck and place it facedown, so long as that card is another Necrovalley card, other than the Temple."

"No way!"

"And I think you can tell what this card might be." The Oracle said, referring to the card he placed into the field spell tray.

"Necrovalley." Andrew muttered.

"Correct. That means during my next turn, I can regain the extra points I lost."

"This is bad." Andrew rotated two of his monster cards, making the monsters themselves kneel down. "I switch Escuridao and Ocean to defense mode. Then I'll end my turn with a facedown." A card appeared behind the hero monsters.

"And I shall end you!" The Oracle drew. "And I'll start by taking us back to Necrovalley." The big valley appeared once again. ( **ATK: 3000-3500** DEF: 1500-2000) "And now I activate Stop Defense. This spell card lets me force one of your monsters into attack mode."

Andrew gasped.

"So now Escuridao, stand up! Stand up, so I can put an end to this!" The dark hero stood up again. "Now it's time for you to meet your doom!" The Oracle fired another magical energy beam.

"I activate my trap!" Andrew's facedown card flipped up. "Covering Fire! This lets me raise my monster's attack points with the same amount as one of my other monsters. So I'll add Stratos' attack points to Escuridao's strength." The wind hero stepped closer and shared his energy with the dark hero. ( **ATK: 900-2700** )

"A valiant effort, but not enough to stop me!" Escuridao was struck by the energy beam and cried in agony before she exploded. The explosion knocked Andrew on his back.

 **Andrew: 1000-0200**

The coffins were now almost entirely closed.

"That's enough from me." The Oracle concluded. "You have just proven how futile your efforts are. Your destiny is to be buried alive, along with your friends."

"That's not true!" Clover protested.

"This duel is on!" Shiori added.

"No way he's gonna lose!" Xander said.

"Come on, Andrew! Don't give up! We know you can win!" Jenny called out.

On cue, Andrew groaned as he slowly got to his feet. "They're... right. I can't... give up just yet. I'll save my friends. No matter what it takes."

Phantom Magician, who was still standing behind him, nodded. "That's the spirit. Show him what you got!"

Andrew placed his hand on his deck to draw. "This is all, or nothing!" He drew his next card, looked at it, and gave the Oracle a serious look. "It ends here and now!"

"Huh?"

"I summon Elemental HERO Blazeman!" The red armored hero with fiery head appeared. ( **ATK: 1200** DEF: 1800 LV: 4) "When he's summoned, I can take a Polymerization from my deck and add it to my hand." Andrew took the named card from his deck. "And now I activate the spell card Shield & Sword. With this spell card activated, the original attack and defense points of every monster on the field are switched." All monsters on the field were suddenly surrounded by a blue aura. (ATK: 300-0 **DEF: 0-300** ) ( **ATK: 1200-1800** DEF: 1800-1200) (ATK: 1800-300 **DEF: 300-1800** ) ( **ATK: 3500-3000** DEF: 2000-2500)

The Oracle grunted a bit because of the change of his strength, but then scoffed. "That's not enough to defeat me."

"That may be, but I'm not done! I play Polymerization and fuse Stratos with Ocean, so I can summon Elemental HERO Great Tornado!" The two named heroes were sucked into a fusion vortex. And then, the green, black and yellow armored wind hero appeared. ( **ATK: 2800** DEF: DEF: 2200 LV: 8)

"You're wasting your efforts. That monster is not strong enough to destroy me!"

Andrew smirked. "He will be after this. Great Tornado, activate Downburst!" The yellow parts of the hero monster's armor glowed before a whirlwind enveloped the Oracle.

He was shocked by this. Before he could do something, he suddenly felt weaker and fell to his knees as the whirlwind disappeared slowly. "W-what is this?" He groaned. "What did you do to me?"

"I used my Great Tornado's special ability. As soon as he was fusion summoned, he cut your strength in half."

"What!?" ( **ATK: 3000-1500** DEF: 2500-1250)

"Which means you're finished! Great Tornado, attack! Super Cell!" The wind her held up his right palm and created another whirlwind. The Oracle cried out as he was sent back to his original place.

 **Oracle: 3100-1800**

"Now Blazeman, attack him directly!" The fiery hero dashed forward. The Oracle tried to get up, but as soon as he looked up, the fire hero was already right in front of him, and delivered a punch on his face, forcing him back on the ground.

 **Oracle: 1800-0000**

"Gotcha!" Andrew cheered as the holograms disappeared.

The Oracle's duel disk changed back to the snake-like staff he wielded earlier. He then got on his feet slowly before addressing Andrew. "Well well. It appears I lost."

"Didn't see that coming, did ya?"

"Precisely. Despite what I saw in my vision, you overcame this challenge. This makes you the second person who altered his fate."

Andrew widened his eyes. "You mean someone else came here and defeated you?"

The Oracle nodded. "Yes, one day, a stranger with dark powers appeared here at the tomb, and just like you, he was given a chance to live. I had a vision that showed me his defeat. But just like you altered your fate, he altered his own, and passed the trial." The Oracle reached into his robes and pulled out some kind of armlet made of gold, with a red orb attached. "And since you overcame your challenge, I'll give you this."

Andrew took the armlet and looked at it. He noticed that it wasn't whole. "May I ask why it's only half?"

"Because the stranger I just mentioned posses the other half. And even without a future vision, I know that you will cross his path one day."

"That sounds a little unnerving." Andrew slipped on the armlet. Even though it was only half, it somehow managed to cling to the side of his right arm. "Whoa!" He then looked at the Oracle. "Now, I believe me and my friends earned our freedom as well."

The bearded man nodded before he tapped his staff against the floor. On cue, the coffins slid open, and the bandages wrapped around Andrew's friends dissolved.

"Finally!" Shiori said as he and the others got up.

"It's good to be free!" Xander cheered.

"Andrew, you did it!" Jenny said gratefully.

But before the fairy duelist could approach him, Clover beat her to it as she instantly ran towards him and gave him a firm hug.

"Seriously, don't scare us like that." She said softly.

Andrew was surprised by the sudden hug, then smiled and hugged back. "Sorry about that."

As she watched this, Jenny puffed her cheek in anger.

"Come now…" The Oracle called out as he walked towards the exit. "Let me guide you all back to your other friends."

"Good. I was starting to get tired of this place." Phantom Magician said.

Everyone, except Andrew, stared at the skeleton-like monster with uncertainty.

"Hey, Andrew?" Jenny asked. "How come that monster is there, if you haven't summoned him?"

Andrew scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "Well, believe it or not, Phantom Magician happens to be my duel spirit. Usually, I'm the only one who can see him, unless someone else is able to see duel spirits."

"That's… interesting." Clover said slowly.

"Well, after everything we've been through today, I can't say this surprises me much." Shiori shrugged.

"Same here." Xander added.

* * *

The Oracle led them through the path Andrew had been taken before. They were brought back to the place where Andrew and Jaden ran into the mystery woman. Andrew's Phantom Magician returned to his deck on the way. After they arrived, it didn't take long before they met up with Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, Alexis, Banner and Pharaoh, who were being led by the Gravekeeper's Chief and Assailant. Andrew and Jaden quickly summed up what they've been through after they departed.

"Sweet! So we both got cool jewelry." Jaden commented.

"Yeah, even though each of them is only a half." Andrew replied.

"I knew you boys would pass this test. I just knew it." Banner said proudly.

Jaden laughed for being praised before he realized what Banner said. "Wait, what do you mean 'test'? Don't you mean challenge?"

"Yes, of course! I mean, test, challenge... it is all the same, am I right?" Banner asked. "All that matters is that you won. Isn't that right, guys?" He laughed nervously.

"Uh huh." Andrew raised an eyebrow.

The Gravekeeper's Chief turned to Jaden and Andrew. "Well then. It's time for you and your friends to return to your own world."

"Sounds good to me." Jaden said. "So, how do we get back?"

"Go to the gate of the tomb." The Oracle instructed. "When the three lights combine into one, the Veil of Radiance will appear before you."

"Oookay…" Jaden said, not really understanding.

"They're saying we have to go back to the arch, where we woke up. And then, let that strange light from earlier take us home." Andrew explained to his friend."

"Oh."

It was then everyone suddenly heard the sound of marching coming towards them. They all turned to the direction the sound came from, and saw a large group of Gravekeeper's Soldiers and Guards surround the them the group, cornering them with weapons intact.

The Chief looked at them angrily. "Fools! What are you doing!?"

"They must be punished. Either by you or by us!" One of the Spear Soldiers replied.

"Punished! Punished!" The gracekeepers chanted as they stepped closer.

The Chief stepped forward. "Stop! They have paid for their misdeeds! They have passed the challenge! Their freedom has been earned!"

"Punished! Punished!"

Everyone was starting to panic as the Spear Soldiers and Guards advanced further. The first row of soldiers rushed forward, plunging their spears forward towards the group.

Jenny, who was among the students in the front, screamed as the spears approached them. Andrew was about to step forward to shield her, only to stop when her deck suddenly glowed brightly.

The Spear Soldiers stopped as they noticed this.

"What's happening!?" Jenny exclaimed. To answer her question, a glowing orb came out of her deck and floated in the air. And then, it orb started to glow brighter, causing everyone to shield their eyes. They waited for a moment until the light died down. When everyone looked up, they were shocked to see what floating in the air in the orb's place...

"Tethys, Goddess of Light?" Alexis asked in shock.

Indeed, they all could see the white dressed angel that was a part of Jenny's deck. The fairy duelist was the most shocked person of them all. "Un-unbelievable!"

"First Phantom Magician, and now this?" Shiori asked disbelieved. "Are there other surprises hidden here?"

The Spear Soldiers and Guards were shocked as well at Tethys' appearance. She was looking down on them with anger in her eyes. Before anyone could react, someone used a pair of serpentine daggers and sliced off the spearheads so skillfully, that it took a second for them to fall off. Everyone's attention was now focused of the owner of the daggers: the Gravekeeper's Assailant. It was then the covering her face dropped, revealing that she was the woman who'd first met Jaden and Andrew.

"It's you!" The former said.

"Yes, I'm Gravekeeper's Assailant. I'm sorry I fought you, but I had to obey my chief."

"Hey, it's cool."

"Uh, Jaden." called Syrus, looking indignant and jealous. "Don't you think it's rude to not introduce me... I mean _us_ to your new friend?"

The gang sighed at his words.

"Go find your own friends."

The Assailant spoke up again. "When you finally return to your world, please, give a message to the owner of the other half of your medallion. Tell him Yasmin's still in the other world, but I haven't forgotten him. And that I believe one day we will meet again."

"Oh, boyfriend." Jaden guessed awkwardly.

"I knew it!" Syrus said disheartened.

"Now that's what I call a long distance relationship." Andrew commented.

The soldiers and guards tried to approach them, but Yasmin stepped forward. "Stand back! They have won the challenge and we must honor our word! We are the keepers of the graves, not the makers! If you want to harm any of them, you'll have to get through me!" She held up her daggers.

Sensing how serious she was, the soldiers and guards backed away, enough to provide an open path for the group.

"I would hurry." Yasmin said.

"For sure." Jaden replied. "But... how do we leave again?"

The Assailant gave the group a smile. "Oh, I think a friend or two will help show you the way."

Jaden and Andrew's decks glowed, and their respective duel spirits appeared in front of them.

The rest of the humans were really stunned. First they were joined by Tethys, Goddess of Light, and now Winged Kuriboh and Phantom Magician appeared as well. (Even though this isn't the first the latter was seen by those who were captured by the Oracle.)

"Coo!"

"Come on! Follow us!"

"Do as they say!" Andrew urged as he and Jaden ran after them.

Syrus rubbed his eyes to see if he was dreaming, but then started running like the others.

"Thanks, Yasmin!" Jaden called out.

"Hurry!" Yasmin urged. _'Until we nest meet.'_

They ran as fast as they could towards the arch. While they got closer, they noticed the suns started to combine.

"The lights, they're combining! We've gotta hurry!" Jaden said.

"Coo!"

"Come on! You're almost there!" Tethys said in as soft, angelic voice. Like everyone else, Jenny was so focused on running, that she didn't questioned the fact that her monster card was alive.

But as they neared the gateway, Chumley tripped and fell forward, spraining his ankle badly. The others noticed this and stopped. "Chumley, are you alright!?" Jaden asked.

"Old tricycle injury." He said, holding his right leg. "Just go on without me! You don't have time to wait! Seriously! Go! You can still make it!"

"No Chumely! We can't do that!" Andrew protested.

"We're not leaving you behind!" Jaden added.

"You must!" Chumley urged. But just then, his backpack glowed. And then, a Des Koala came out of it. Everyone were stunned once again. Including Syrus who rubbed his eyes again.

"Another one?" Xander asked disbelieved.

And then, everyone found themselves running towards the arch, with Des Koala leading them while holding Chumley on its back. "I love running!" The Koala duelist cheered.

"It's now or never guys!" Jaden pointed out. "Let's make tracks!"

When the group finally reached the archway, green light shot out from the ground beneath them, just like before. The Light engulfed the 9 students and Banner before everything turned dark.

* * *

Jaden slowly opened his eyes. He woke up and realized he was lying against a stone pillar and noticed Alexis leaning on her. "Hey guys!" He called out.

"Huh?"

He then noticed Andrew lying against another pillar, with Jenny leaning on him. The Ra woke up, noticed the fairy duelist, before he blushed and gently freed himself of her. Jaden did the same thing to Alexis. The boys then noticed the cards of their duel spirits on the ground. As they picked them up, they also noticed Chumley's Des Koala and Jenny's Tethys, Goddess of Light. Not to mention the fact that everyone else but them was still sleeping.

"Wow, that was crazy." Andrew commented

"Yeah. Do you think we just had a hallucination because of those moldy sandwiches?" Jaden asked.

The Ra looked down at his right arm and saw that he still had the armlet he got. "I don't think so."

The Slifer looked down and noticed the medallion around his neck. "Oh, so it was all real."

"Yeah. But at least we're back to one sun." Andrew said looking up toward the sky.

"But still…" Jaden looked at his Winged Kuriboh card. "Something just tells me... the shadows will be back."

Andrew looked at his Phantom Magician card with a serious look. "I agree. We better get ready until then."

* * *

 **And that's that. I hope you guys liked the challenge Andrew passed. Until next time.**


End file.
